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

Norris, who took the points lead from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind behind Norris, finished in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.

Hamilton wrapped up in 19th, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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