Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.

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

Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.

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