Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri 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.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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