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Lando Norris 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 took the title advantage from Piastri by one point after winning in Mexico City recently, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the only other driver in the points battle, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his Red Bull team followed a unique setup.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner during the early running.

Tsunoda spun out over the curbs on exit before spinning across the escape zone, and was blessed to escape with just a light touch of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the final corner on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion wrapped up in 19th place, one place behind teammate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were well clear of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off the Australian's time.

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