Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session
The British driver has beaten his teammate at each of the last five race weekends.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.
Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.
Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.
