Oscar Piastri labelled his first-lap collision with team-mate Lando Norris in the United States sprint a “racing incident” as he refuted accusations that he was at fault for the crash which dumped the title rivals out.

Out of the two Sauber drivers, Hülkenberg is in the best position to score points on Sunday, given Gabriel Bortoleto dropped out in Q1. Only 13 points separate Aston Martin and Sauber heading into the Austin grand prix, and out of the four drivers, only Alonso escaped into Q3.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown described the first-lap incident that in which his two cars collided and retired from the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix as “amateur hour driving.”

Colliding with Hulkenberg at Turn 1 in the Sprint, Piastri was sent onto two wheels and slamming into Norris, eliminating both McLarens. Max Verstappen meanwhile raced on to victory, taking another eight points out of Piastri’s Championship buffer.

Four-time defending champion Max Verstappen will start tomorrow’s United States Grand Prix from poleposition at Circuit of the Americas. Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three after qualifying in Austin, Texas — where championship leader Oscar Piastri finished only sixth fastest.

Guenther Steiner, the ex-Haas F1 boss, just shut down wild gossip about Oscar Piastri ditching McLaren anytime soon. He called the whole thing nonsense, downright laughable. Alec Baldwin Blames Garbage Truck for Crash,

Instead of bouncing back in Sprint qualifying in Austin, Piastri, by his own admission, had a “pretty scruffy lap” where he “just didn’t really get it together”. In a season in which Norris has been the one complaining about his qualifying laps, the Briton finished ahead of his teammate.

McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri appears to be settling into Texas life with ease, posting photos of a laid-back barbecue dinner in Austin ahead of the United States Grand Prix. Giant plates of food are probably not something the elite F1 athletes get a lot of back in Europe.