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The McLaren driver narrowly beat fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the final moments of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from Piastri by just one point after his victory in Mexico City recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

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

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a slight brush of the barrier.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also spun, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds off the Australian's time.

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