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The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing 36 points Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he lost control at corner four soon after starting.

Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the very end of the practice, turning around through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The veteran ended the session in 19th place, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber P3, over half a second slower than the Australian's time.

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