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Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the points lead from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

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

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

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

Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the main straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.

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