Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice

The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four during the early running.

Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the barrier.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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