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The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying due at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the championship fight, lying 36 points Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team opted for a unique setup.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, though minor, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho corner approaching the final bend on to the pit straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th place, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619 seconds behind the Australian's time.

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