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Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, 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 only other driver in realistic title contention, lying with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place 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 lost control at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs behind Piastri's best.

Aston Martin's the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto fifth from Mercedes' Russell and Alpine's Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.