Lando Norris Edges Out Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.

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