F1 US GP LIVE: Championship battle tightens as Piastri and Norris face off in Austin

McLaren engineers weren’t having a great day in the office on Saturday, after both their drivers were forced to retire just metres into the US Grand Prix sprint race

During the sprint, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg hit Oscar Piastri at the first corner and pitched the Australian’s McLaren onto his teammate, Lando Norris.

The safety car was deployed, with debris strewn across the track.

“Someone just wiped me out, I’m out,” said Norris, who tried to continue but stopped on the track.

“That was terrible. Neither of our drivers to blame there,” McLaren boss Zak Brown told Sky Sports television.

Piastri, 22 points clear of his teammate at the top of the standings, made it back to the pit lane but retired with a broken suspension.

The Australian continued to suffer in qualifying and will start in sixth place on the grid, while his teammate starts second. Pole position belonged to Red Bull champion Max Verstappen who set a blistering lap at the Circuit of the Americas.

Howdy folks, welcome to our coverage of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

We’ve now entered the glorious stage of the F1 calendar (for Aussie viewers) where races start at 6am instead of 11pm.

I’m Hannah and I’ll be steering tonight’s live coverage of the race in Austin, Texas.

We’ve got a resurgent Max Verstappen on pole and McLaren’s papaya rules might be out the window following a collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris during the sprint race.

Can sixth-placed Piastri catch his teammate and championship rival Norris, who starts second on the grid?

It’s lights out at 6am AEDT.