Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.