Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
