Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

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

The Japanese spun out over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.

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

The McLaren pair were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.

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