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Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.

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

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before spinning across the escape zone, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn approaching the final corner on to the main straight.

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

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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