Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver 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 run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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