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The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team ran a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda slid over the exit kerbs before sliding over the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's pace.

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