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The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, trailing 36 points behind Norris, ended up in P17 as his team opted for a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to go off, though minor, when he lost control at the fourth corner early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was fortunate to escape with just a light touch of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber in third, over half a second slower than Piastri's pace.

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