Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

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

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

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