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The McLaren driver narrowly beat team-mate and championship contender the Australian for the fastest time in the closing stages of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who seized the title advantage from his teammate by a single point after his victory in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, topped the Australian by 0.023 seconds.

Until that point, Piastri had been the leading McLaren for most of the session before the sprint shootout due at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the points battle, trailing with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his team opted for a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate the Japanese driver was the sole competitor to go off, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four soon after starting.

Tsunoda spun out over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to get away with just a light touch of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the session, spinning around through the fast downhill corner leading to the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

Hamilton ended the session in 19th, trailing teammate the Monegasque driver.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's pace.

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