Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off Piastri's pace.

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