Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri once again collided on the opening lap of the United States Grand Prix sprint, abruptly ending the race for both title contenders and plunging McLaren into turmoil.
The weekend buildup was already overshadowed by McLaren’s disciplinary measures against Norris, who was held responsible for a wheel-to-wheel contact incident with Piastri in Singapore two weeks prior. However, that minor clash pales in comparison to the first-corner mayhem in Austin.
Starting the sprint from third place, Piastri—who leads Norris by 22 points in the championship—attempted an inside move at turn one. In the chaos, he inadvertently clipped Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, which propelled him into the rear-left side of Norris’ car. The impact spun Norris and sent his left-rear tire flying across the track. Piastri’s car sustained suspension damage, forcing him to retire shortly after, while Norris was stranded with three remaining tires.
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McLaren CEO Zak Brown expressed his frustration from the pit wall, stating, “That was terrible. Neither of our drivers to blame there. That’s some amateur-hour driving by others up at the front who took out two of our guys.”
Piastri reflected on the incident: “We both went pretty deep into turn one. I tried to cut back but got a hit, so it’s definitely not how I wanted to start the day.”
The crash handed Max Verstappen a clear path to victory in the 19-lap sprint, as the Dutch driver capitalized on the McLaren duo’s misfortune. Verstappen’s sprint win earned him eight critical points, narrowing Piastri’s championship lead to 55 points and placing him just 33 points behind Norris.
Verstappen started from pole and avoided the turn-one chaos that also eliminated Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso. After the safety car restart, he pulled away from George Russell, who was eager to challenge following his recent Mercedes contract renewal after a Singapore victory. On lap 19, Russell’s ambitious move at turn 12 didn’t succeed, forcing both him and Verstappen briefly off track. Nonetheless, Verstappen regained control to secure a comfortable win. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz impressed by finishing third for Williams after starting seventh. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on lap nine.
As the drivers regroup for Sunday’s main race, qualifying will begin at 4:00 pm local time (10:00 pm BST).