Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap 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 one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team ran a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.

Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.

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