Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at corner four early in the session.

Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

Hamilton ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.