Norris Tops Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

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

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

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

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.

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