Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

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

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was fortunate to get away with just a slight brush of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the main straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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