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The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

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

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points Norris, finished in P17 as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion 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 main straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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