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The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the championship lead from his teammate by a single point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Australian by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Before then, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, lying with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to have an incident, albeit lightly, when he spun at the fourth corner soon after starting.

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

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in P19, trailing teammate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's best.

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