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Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, finished in 17th place as his team ran a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th place, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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