Oscar Piastri offers honest explanation after crashing with Lando Norris at the US GP Sprint Race

F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri has given his first reaction to crashing on lap 1 of the United States Grand Prix Sprint Race and unintentionally taking McLaren teammate Lando Norris down with him. The duo started 2-3 on the grid, with Norris ahead of Piastri.

The Australian driver got a better start than his British teammate and momentarily secured P2 going on the outside. However, Lando Norris had a slight edge to defend his position, being on the inside of the left-hander Turn 1. Because Oscar Piastri had no place to overtake on the outside, he braked a bit early for a switcheroo with an overtake attempt on the inside.

Unfortunately for the championship leader, Nico Hulkenberg, who had shockingly qualified in P4, was already on the apex right behind him. The Sauber driver's right front collided with the McLaren driver's left rear, momentarily sending Piastri's MCL39 one side up before he drove into the left rear of teammate Lando Norris' car.

Hulkenberg lost his front wing, Piastri damaged his front right suspension, and Norris lost his left rear tire, which rolled and came to a rest in Turn 2. Norris was stranded in the grass after Turn 1, while Piastri limped his way back to the pits, but a double-DNF was certain for McLaren.

In an interview after the US GP sprint race, Oscar Piastri shared his side of the incident, saying:

"It's obviously not ideal. I haven't seen what happened yet [on the TV cameras]. I tried to cut back on Lando. We were both very far from the apex. Then I got hit, and it sent me into Lando. So yeah, shame."

McLaren wrapped up the constructors' championship in Singapore, but the driver's championship battle remains open. Max Verstappen won the Sprint Race, his 13th since the Sprint format, which he disliked, was introduced in F1. It earned him eight points and reduced the gap to 33 points to Norris and 55 points to Piastri in the drivers' championship.

McLaren boss Zak Brown gives clear verdict on Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris' crash

Zak Brown at the F1 United States Grand Prix - Practice and Spring Qualifying - Source: Getty

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown gave his clear opinion on the crash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The 53-year-old blamed neither of his drivers for the incident and instead held Nico Hulkenberg responsible.

In an interview on Sky Sports, Brown said:

"Neither of our drivers are to blame there. Some amateur-hour driving. Clearly, Nico drove into Oscar. He had no business being where he was."

Norris also addressed the matter in the media pen. In an interview with F1TV's Lawrence Barretto, the Briton made it clear that he did "nothing wrong." Instead, it was the drama among the drivers behind which the McLaren drivers, 'unluckily', had to bear the brunt of.