Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

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

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.

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