Norris Leads Piastri in Brazilian Practice Session

Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

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 sole remaining contender in the championship fight, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with the German's car P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.

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