Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten Oscar Piastri at all of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.
Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.
The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.