Lando Norris Leads Oscar Piastri in Sao Paulo Practice

The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

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

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

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner during the early running.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner leading to the last turn on to the main straight.

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

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second off Piastri's best.

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