Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the championship lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.

Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.

The veteran wrapped up in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.

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