Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the fence.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.