Lando Norris is second on grid, Oscar Piastri is sixth
Max Verstappen won sprint after McLarens collided
Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the US Grand Prix with an immense lap for Red Bull at the Circuit of the Americas. However the day was marked by yet another incident between the two world championship contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with the latter crashing into Norris on the opening lap of the sprint race taking them both out and leaving McLaren with a headache as to how they manage their drivers.
Verstappen had been all but untouchable throughout qualifying, his lead over Norris in second place was a full three-tenths, an age on this track. However in what is an increasingly tense title fight Piastri’s difficult weekend continued as he managed only sixth on the grid. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton took third and fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth.
The real drama, certainly for McLaren, had already taken place to devastating effect. On the first corner of the sprint, which was won by Verstappen, with Norris starting in second and Piastri in third, the Australian looked to cut back inside his teammate but in doing so was struck by the Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg. The impact speared him into Norris at speed, lifted Piastri’s car into the air and entirely sheared off one of Norris’s wheels, damage that ended both their races.
