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Lando Norris edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the final moments of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he rotated at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese spun out over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was lucky to avoid just a light touch of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the other competitors, with the German's car third fastest, 0.619secs behind the Australian's time.

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