Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at corner four during the early running.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.

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