Both drivers were eliminated on the opening lap after contact through Turn 1, as Max Verstappen claimed victory at COTA.
McLaren suffered a disastrous Sprint Race at Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix as title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided on the opening lap.
After their minor contact in Singapore, which led to Norris being held accountable and facing undisclosed repercussions, the two came to blows through Turn 1 at the Circuit of the Americas on Saturday.
Norris and Piastri ran side-by-side into Turn 1, behind Max Verstappen, with Norris holding the inside line—and running slightly deep—and Piastri taking the outside looking to adopt the switchback.
But as Piastri tried to cut back he was hit by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, and the impact lifted his car into the side of the sister McLaren machine, which was spun around.
Piastri and Norris both suffered terminal damage in the clash and were forced into retirement, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso also caught up in the incident.
“That was terrible, neither of our drivers to blame there,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports. “Some amateur hour driving. Clearly Nico drove into Oscar. He had no business being where he was.”
Stewards reviewed the collision but deemed that no further investigation was necessary, effectively labelling it a racing incident.
“I just [got] hit, I got taken out so not a lot I could've done,” Norris said, while Piastri added that “we were both going pretty deep into Turn 1, and I tried to cut back and got hit so...”
Verstappen faced a brief threat from Mercedes’ George Russell but converted pole position into victory, enabling him to take another eight points out of Piastri’s title advantage.
Piastri’s lead over Norris remains at 22 points but his gap to Verstappen—which stood at 104 after the Dutch GP in August—has now been cut to 55, as the reigning world champion continues his strong post-summer form.
“We won the Sprint, which is the most important, but looking tomorrow we do need to be better in race trim,” Verstappen said.
Williams scored another top-three finish, with Carlos Sainz a beneficiary of the Turn 1 melee to rocket into third spot, ahead of Ferrari pair Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Category: General Sports
