Lando Norris Leads Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.

The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

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

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs behind Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and the Williams of Carlos Sainz.