Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a different programme.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, over half a second off the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
