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

Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after his victory in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.

The Japanese spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the very end of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth quickest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.