Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.
Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four early in the session.
Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
