Source : @F1
AUSTIN — Formula 1 has revisited one of the most dramatic moments of last year’s United States Grand Prix weekend, sharing footage of the first-corner crash that put both McLaren drivers out of the 2025 Austin Sprint, filmed from the top of the observation tower at the Circuit of The Americas.
The sport’s official X account posted the clip on Tuesday (Oct 20), days before Formula 1 returns to Texas, with the caption: “Calamity for McLaren, as seen from the top of the COTA Tower!” alongside the hashtags #F1 and #USGP. The video, labelled “F1 Sprint 2025”, shows the papaya cars tangling as the pack funnels into the circuit’s wide, uphill Turn 1.
The incident came on the opening lap of the 19-lap Sprint on Oct 18, 2025. Max Verstappen had taken pole for Red Bull, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lining up second and third and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg an impressive fourth. All 20 drivers started on the medium tyre.
Verstappen led cleanly away, but behind him Piastri, who had made the better start, tried to cut back on the inside of his team-mate at Turn 1. According to the BBC, his left rear wheel caught the right front of Hulkenberg’s car, launching the McLaren into the air and sending it bouncing into Norris. The Briton was out on the spot, while Piastri, the championship leader at the time, limped on for a few corners with suspected suspension damage before pulling off. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was also eliminated, and the Safety Car was deployed to clear the debris.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown was scathing. “That was terrible, neither of our drivers to blame,” he said. “Amateur hour. Nico drove into Oscar.” Norris told reporters: “I just got hit. I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened, and I just got unlucky and I got hit because of it.” Piastri admitted he had not yet seen the replays, saying: “I tried to cut back on Lando – I mean, we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit.” Hulkenberg, who dropped to 15th after pitting for repairs, described the melee as a “massive sandwich”.
The crash came at a sensitive time for McLaren, whose management had repeatedly stressed that their title-contending drivers were free to race but must not collide. The build-up to Austin had been dominated by a minor touch between the pair at the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks earlier. Verstappen went on to win the Sprint under the Safety Car, ahead of George Russell, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, cutting his deficit to 55 points behind Piastri and 33 behind Norris.
That title fight went all the way to the final race in Abu Dhabi on Dec 7, 2025, where Norris finished third to claim his first world championship on 423 points, just two clear of Verstappen, with Piastri third overall on 410.
The landscape is very different as the sport heads back to Austin this year. Under the new 2026 technical regulations, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers’ standings by 102 points, while Norris is sixth on 201 points. McLaren, the reigning constructors’ champions, plan to introduce further upgrades in Austin, according to Formula 1, and Brazilian outlet Grande Prêmio reported that Red Bull trail them by just seven points in the battle for third place in the teams’ standings.
Unlike the previous three years, this season’s United States Grand Prix will not feature a Sprint. The weekend runs from Oct 23 to 25, with the 56-lap race starting at 3pm local time on Sunday, which is 4am on Monday (Oct 26) in Malaysia. The original Formula 1 post can be viewed on X: https://x.com/F1/status/2112524231556694357.
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