Lando Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the main straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in P19, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.

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