Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four during the early running.
Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.