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Lando Norris edged out team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in the championship fight, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was lucky to escape with just a slight brush of the wall.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, one place behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.

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