Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win 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 fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate 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 session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
