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Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the quickest lap in the closing stages of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team ran a different programme.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he rotated at Turn Four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill corner approaching the final corner on to the main straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

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

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