Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice
The British driver has outscored his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who took the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the pit straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
