Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.

Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.