Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

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

The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the main straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.

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