Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outscored Oscar Piastri at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.
The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the wall.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
