Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the final bend on to the main straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.

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