Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
