Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.

The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.