Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the past five grands prix.
Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a different programme.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
