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The McLaren driver just pipped fellow driver and championship contender the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The British racer, who grabbed the title advantage from Piastri by just one point after taking the win in the Mexican Grand Prix a fortnight back, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a tiny margin of 0.023secs.

Until that point, Piastri had been the quickest of the McLaren pair throughout the hour before the sprint shootout set to begin at the evening session.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in the championship fight, lying 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th position as his Red Bull team opted for a alternative strategy.

His teammate the Japanese driver was the only driver to have an incident, if briefly, when he rotated at the fourth corner early in the session.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before rotating through the escape zone, and was fortunate to escape with just a minor contact of the wall.

The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the conclusion of the practice, rotating twice through the fast downhill Mergulho corner before the final bend on to the start-finish straight.

The seven-time champion finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate the Monegasque driver.

The McLaren drivers were far ahead of the other competitors, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds behind Piastri's pace.

The Aston Martin of the Spanish driver was fourth fastest, with the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto ahead of Mercedes' Russell and the Alpine of Gasly and Williams' Carlos Sainz.