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The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team ran a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to get away with just a light touch of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final bend on to the main straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.