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Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before spinning across the gravel trap, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

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

The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.

The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of Mercedes' George Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Sainz.