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Lando Norris edged out team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner leading to the final bend on to the main straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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