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The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Oscar 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, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese slid over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to get away with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.

The veteran wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were well clear of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, over half a second behind Piastri's pace.

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