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The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the quickest lap in the closing stages of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the points lead from his teammate by one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, topped the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the other racer in the points battle, trailing 36 points behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his Red Bull team followed a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the sole competitor to go off, though minor, when he spun at corner four early in the session.

The Japanese spun out over the track edges before spinning across the run-off area, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, turning around through the quick descending Mergulho turn leading to the final corner on to the pit straight.

The veteran finished practice in 19th, just behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber third fastest, 0.619secs off Piastri's pace.

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