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The McLaren driver edged out team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri for the top spot in the final moments of practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Norris, who seized the points lead from his teammate by just one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix recently, outpaced the Australian by a mere 0.023s.

Earlier in the session, Piastri had been the leading McLaren throughout the hour before the sprint shootout scheduled for 6:30 PM GMT.

Max Verstappen, the other racer in realistic title contention, trailing with a 36-point deficit Norris, ended up in P17 as his Red Bull team opted for a different programme.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to go off, if briefly, when he rotated at Turn Four early in the session.

The Japanese slid over the track edges before sliding over the gravel trap, and was lucky to get away with just a slight brush of the wall.

Ferrari's the seven-time champion also lost it, at the very end of the session, rotating twice through the fast downhill corner leading to the last turn on to the pit straight.

Hamilton finished practice in 19th, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc.

The McLaren drivers were significantly quicker of the rest of the field, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619secs slower than the Australian's time.

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