Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
Lando Norris has outperformed his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
