Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice

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

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.

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

The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

The veteran finished practice in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.

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