Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

The veteran wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.

Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.