Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
