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Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car in third, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.

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