Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice Session

The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.

The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a light touch of the barrier.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.

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