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Lando Norris narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who took the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, beat the Melbourne-born driver by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver throughout the hour before sprint qualifying scheduled for the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.

Tsunoda lost control over the curbs on exit before sliding over the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn approaching the last turn on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion ended the session in 19th place, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, over half a second slower than Piastri's best.

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