Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at all of the previous five race weekends.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
