Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the points lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team ran a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

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

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