Lando Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner soon after starting.

Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

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