Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris made contact for the second race weekend in a row at the United States Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen narrowed the gap to both McLaren drivers in the championship after winning the Sprint Race at Circuit of The Americas.
Verstappen started from pole and also secured top spot for Sunday’s race, with Norris and Piastri lined up right behind him on Saturday.
Neither McLaren driver managed to finish a lap in Saturday’s race. A sequence of collisions left Piastri with a broken suspension, while Norris could only watch as one of his tyres rolled away towards turn two.
Piastri is currently 55 points ahead of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, but his qualifying struggles mean that lead could shrink further by the time they get to Mexico City.
Norris has admitted he faced ‘repercussions’ after hitting Piastri in Singapore, but there’s no indication he’ll be punished this time around, even though Zak Brown did tone down his criticism of Nico Hulkenberg for causing this incident.
However, Ruth Buscombe and James Hinchcliffe pointed out a ‘stark difference’ between how Norris and Piastri handled themselves after the crash, which might hint at where their minds are as the title fight intensifies.
Oscar Piastri ‘more frustrated’ than Lando Norris after United States Grand Prix crash
Speaking on the official F1 Post-Race Show after the Sprint, Buscombe shared her observations with Hinchcliffe: “Do you know what, the two drivers came into the paddock completely differently? Lando came in, helmet off, went straight into the engineering office, I think to talk to his engineers, and then Oscar came a little bit later, helmet still on and went into the hospitality.
“So hopefully a little bit delayed for them to talk, but again, they’re both sensible, they’ll have to review before they make any conclusions. They’ve been media trained, unfortunately for us!”
Hinchcliffe replied: “There was an interesting thing though because I witnessed them then both come to the media pen afterwards and again it was kind of a tale of two stories because you had Lando pretty calm.
“Jovial’s probably the wrong word but he was cracking a smile when it’s like yeah what are you going to do? He knows there was nothing he could have done differently.
“Oscar came in looked a little more frustrated with the whole situation. I don’t know if that’s because he’s frustrated at the incident. I don’t know if he’s frustrated that he lost another eight points to Max Verstappen but it was definitely a pretty stark difference between their general mood.”
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collision labelled a ‘racing incident’ at COTA by Jolyon Palmer
Martin Brundle felt Piastri’s error was the reason both McLaren cars didn’t make it to the end of Saturday’s race.
Piastri took a risk by cutting across Hulkenberg into turn one, not realising there was no space available due to Fernando Alonso’s positioning.
Looking back on how it unfolded, Jolyon Palmer said: “So, it’s just the definition of a racing incident this one.
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“And I really don’t think you can point any blame on anyone. Lando’s slow start was the catalyst, but he’s not trying to do a slow start. It’s just an unfortunate moment for him. He would have been gunning for the race lead if he could have had the choice.
“But, he’s then tried just to defend and bunch Oscar up, which is the main cause of the collision.”
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