Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

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

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a alternative strategy.

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

The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.