🔗 Share this article

Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four early in the session.

Tsunoda slid over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.

Hamilton ended the session in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

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

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