Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team opted for a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.

Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

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