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The McLaren driver edged out fellow driver and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the closing stages of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The British racer, who took the title advantage from his teammate by one point after taking the win in Mexico City two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the leading McLaren during the running before sprint qualifying due at 18:30 GMT.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, finished in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.

His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, albeit lightly, when he spun at corner four soon after starting.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a light touch of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also spun, at the conclusion of the practice, spinning around through the high-speed Mergulho turn leading to the final bend on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in P19, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Piastri were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber P3, 0.619 seconds slower than Piastri's best.

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