Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM 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 opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
