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The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the dying seconds of practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

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

Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before sprint qualifying set to begin at the evening session.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, sitting with a 36-point deficit behind Norris, was classified in 17th place as his team followed a alternative strategy.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to crash, if briefly, when he lost control at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before rotating through the escape zone, and was lucky to avoid just a minor contact of the fence.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, spinning around through the high-speed corner approaching the last turn on to the pit straight.

Hamilton ended the session in P19, just behind teammate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.

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