​​​​​​Max Verstappen’s late-season title charge has gathered further pace after he won the Sprint at the United States Grand Prix after McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided amid chaotic scenes at the first corner.

As Verstappen led comfortably away from pole, Piastri challenged Norris for second place on the uphill run to the wide, first corner.

With Norris holding the preferred inside line, Piastri yielded as they entered the braking zone but then as he cut back underneath the sister car to try and attack on the corner exit, disaster struck when the Australian made contact with Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber on his inside.

The side-on collision pitched Piastri’s car up onto two wheels and sent him straight into the luckless Norris, causing Sprint-ending damage to both cars.

The collision comes two weeks after the McLaren title rivals made contact on the first lap of the Singapore Grand Prix, when Norris went into Piastri’s front wheel after the Briton had tagged Verstappen ahead of him.

Although both cars continued then, and neither the team nor the stewards took any in-race action, Norris subsequently revealed on Thursday in Austin that the team had imposed unspecified ‘repercussions’ on him after ultimately finding him at fault in their post-race review.

With his two drivers ahead of him in the championship wiped out immediately, Verstappen survived a fierce initial challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell after a lap-one Safety Car – which at one point saw both drivers run off track as the Briton lunged for the lead – to win the Sprint for the third consecutive year in Austin.

With the McLarens not scoring, Verstappen took the full eight points for the victory out of Piastri’s lead, with the reigning four-time champion now 55 points back on the championship summit having been a mammoth 104 behind just four races ago.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz profited from the first-corner carnage to move up to third and stayed there ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who overtook team-mate Charles Leclerc for fourth after dropping behind the sister Ferrari at the start.

The race finished behind the Safety Car after a collision at the first corner between Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Haas’ Esteban Ocon.

Alex Albon was sixth for Williams ahead of Red Bull’s Yuki Tusnoda, who recovered well from his early Sprint Qualifying exit on Friday, in seventh and Kimi Antonelli in eighth.

Oliver Bearman finished ahead of Antonelli on the road but the Haas driver was handed a 10-second penalty for overtaking the Mercedes off the track. With the field crossing the line nose to tail under Safety Car conditions, Bearman dropped to 15th and the final classified finisher.

More to follow…

Sky Sports F1’s live United States GP schedule

Saturday October 18
9pm: United States GP Qualifying build-up*
10pm: UNITED STATES GP QUALIFYING*
12am (Sunday morning): Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday October 19
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: United States GP build-up*
8pm: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX*
10pm: Chequered Flag: United States GP reaction
11pm: Ted’s Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in North America for the United States Grand Prix in Austin this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime