Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.

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