Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice

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

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, over half a second off the Australian's time.

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