Lando Norris Tops Piastri in Brazilian Practice

The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Earlier in the session, 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 realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.

The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho corner leading to the final corner on to the main straight.

The veteran wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, over half a second behind the Australian's time.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.