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Lando Norris narrowly beat fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the title advantage from Piastri by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, 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 the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in 17th position as his team ran a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he lost control at the fourth corner soon after starting.

Tsunoda slid over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the barrier.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the final moments of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.

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

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car in third, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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