Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.

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