Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.

The Japanese spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.

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