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The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the dying seconds of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, was classified in P17 as his team ran a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, though minor, when he lost control at corner four during the early running.

Tsunoda lost control over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the barrier.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also lost it, at the very end of the practice, rotating twice through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the main straight.

The veteran wrapped up in P19, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with the German's car P3, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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