Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.

Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.