Norris Edges Out Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before the sprint shootout set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was lucky to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn before the last turn on to the main straight.

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

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.

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