Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice
The British driver has outperformed his teammate at all of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.
The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.
His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.
The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.
Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.