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The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.

Tsunoda slid over the curbs on exit before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619secs slower than Piastri's pace.

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