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The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City a fortnight back, topped the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

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

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.

The Japanese lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the high-speed Mergulho corner before the final corner on to the pit straight.

Hamilton ended the session in P19, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second off the Australian's time.

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