Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.