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Lando Norris just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.

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

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.

Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before spinning across the gravel trap, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, just behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's best.

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