Norris Tops Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair during the running before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the main straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.

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