Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri share their reactions to the first lap collision at Austin Sprint

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri each gave their views on the first-lap melee that knocked them both out of contention in the United States Grand Prix sprint.

With pole sitter Max Verstappen holding the lead of the McLaren duo from the finish line, chaos unfolded in the first corner when Piastri was hit by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber Kick.

This sent the Australian into a spin – which propelled him into Norris’s other pawpaw car, immediately taking the Briton out.

Piastri attempted to continue, but the damage proved too great and the championship leader was forced off the track, bringing the Woking-based team’s Sprint to a premature end.

When asked for his view on the incident after the event, Norris suggested the fault lay with some drivers behind.

“I mean, what was I supposed to do in there – I just got hit,” the 25-year-old said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Further down the line, things happened, and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it.

“I don’t know, I have to look a little more carefully. There are more people further out who are just a little careless, and we are the consequence of that.”

There was a similar assessment of what happened on the Piastri side. Explaining how much it hurt to suffer a DNF, the nine-time race winner conceded: “It’s obviously not ideal, but actually I haven’t seen what happened yet.

“I tried to cut Lando down – I mean, we were both way off the top and then we had a hit, and he obviously sent me into Lando, so (it’s) too bad.”

While Piastri remains at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings on 336 – with Norris 22 points behind in P2 – Sprint winner Verstappen has now closed the gap to 55 points in third place.