Lando Norris has outperformed Oscar Piastri at each of the previous five grands prix.
The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.
Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.
Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.
The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.
Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.
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