Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
