Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
