Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has outperformed Oscar Piastri at all of the past five race weekends.
Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.
The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.
Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.
