Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has outscored his teammate at each of the past five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
