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The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the championship lead from Piastri by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, beat the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

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

Max Verstappen, the only other driver in realistic title contention, lying 36 points Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to have an incident, though minor, when he spun at the fourth corner early in the session.

The Japanese lost control over the curbs on exit before rotating through the gravel trap, and was blessed to avoid just a slight brush of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren pair were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car P3, 0.619 seconds slower than the Australian's time.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Bortoleto in front of the Mercedes of Russell and Alpine's Gasly and Williams' Sainz.