Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the main straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

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