Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at Turn Four soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact 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 last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.

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