Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris collide in US Sprint to gift Max Verstappen surprise F1 title chance

The F1 Championship remains a three-horse race after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided in the US Sprint and watched Max Verstappen collect a maximum eight points with victory.

Verstappen started on pole and subsequently got away cleanly to reach the first corner without the threat of the drama that occurred behind him.

Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg clipped the back of Piastri's McLaren and sent him into Norris, the pair both having to retire from the race.

Fernando Alonso was also caught up in the incident and subsequently retired as Verstappen eventually won from George Russell and Carlos Sainz Jr in second and third place.

Lewis Hamilton picked up a morale-boosting fourth in his Ferrari with Charles Leclerc, Alexander Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli completing the points.

The moment Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri CRASHED OUT of the US GP Sprint on the first corner! ? pic.twitter.com/pxnfKoas5Q
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 18, 2025

McLaren react to Piastri, Norris first-corner incident

With the Sprint coming just hours before qualifying for Sunday's Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella suggested that it may be a race against time to get the cars of Piastri and Norris ready.

He said: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race today. The first corner incident took both cars out if the race. It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and carry on.

"Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focussing on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there. I think we are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance.

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about malintent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for everyone.

"I think the implication is what the maths says, we lost eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. we have a very competitive car and two strong drivers. we look forward to just some normal racing."