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Lando Norris just pipped team-mate and championship contender Oscar Piastri for the fastest time in the final moments of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris, who grabbed the title advantage from his teammate by one point after winning in the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago, outpaced the Melbourne-born driver by a mere 0.023s.

Before then, Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver for most of the session before the sprint shootout set to begin at 6:30 PM GMT.

The Red Bull star, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind Norris, ended up in 17th place as his Red Bull team opted for a unique setup.

Verstappen's team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he spun at Turn Four during the early running.

Tsunoda lost control over the exit kerbs before spinning across the run-off area, and was blessed to get away with just a slight brush of the fence.

The Ferrari of the seven-time champion also lost it, at the conclusion of the session, rotating twice through the quick descending corner approaching the final corner on to the pit straight.

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

The McLaren pair were far ahead of the rest of the field, with the German's car P3, over half a second behind the Australian's time.

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