Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the past five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
