🔗 Share this article

The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

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

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.

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

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with Sauber's Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Williams' Sainz.