Piastri edges Norris in Qatar practice on crucial weekend

Piastri has not won since the Dutch Grand Prix

McLaren's Oscar Piastri outpaced title rival and team-mate Lando Norris in practice at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Australian, who trails Norris by 24 points in the championship with two races to go, edged the Briton by 0.058 seconds in the only session before sprint qualifying, which starts at 17:30 GMT.

Norris, who will win the championship on Sunday if he outscores both Piastri and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by two points over the weekend, was on a faster lap but ran wide out of the final corner.

Verstappen was down in sixth place, 0.580secs off the pace after complaining of a number of problems with his car through the session.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who often performs strongly early in sprint weekends before the natural order coalesces later on, was third fastest, 0.386secs off the pace.

Williams' Carlos Sainz was fourth ahead of Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar.

Behind Verstappen, Williams' Alex Albon, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli completed the top 10.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton was 12th as both he and Leclerc looked uncomfortable in their cars through the session on the demanding Lusail circuit.

Leclerc was complaining of a lack of feel through his power steering system.

Verstappen's problems included gearchanges, damping and clipping - running out of electrical energy.