AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Red Bulls Max Verstappen cruised to an easy victory Saturday in a crash-filled United States Grand Prix sprint race that saw McLaren teammates and championship leaders Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both knocked out in the first turn when their cars collided.
The loss of both McLaren cars early that could have a huge impact on the season championship as McLaren mechanics now face the challenge of fixing both cars before qualifying for the main event.
Verstappen started Saturdays sprint on pole with Norris second and Piastri third. Kick Saubers Nico Hulkenberg tried to make a dive under Piastri into the first corner and instead bumped cars and sent Piastri crashing into Norris.
Norris car spun and bounced, and a rear wheel was knocked off. Piastris car suffered suspension damage.
A late-race crash between Aston Martins Lance Stroll and Haas driver Esteban Ocon forced the 19-lap event to finish behind a safety car.
The result allows Verstappen, who is making a late-season charge at a possible fifth consecutive Formula 1 championship, to pull within 55 points of leader Piastri with six grand prix and two more sprint races on the season.
Because both McLarens were taken out of the race, Piastri maintains his 22-point lead over Norris. Both drivers are chasing their first season championship.
It was the second straight race with contact between the two McLarens . They nearly crashed in Singapore when Norris bumped tires with Piastri on the opening lap.
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AP auto racing:
得克萨斯州奥斯汀（美联社）——红牛车队的马克斯·维斯塔潘周六在美国大奖赛冲刺赛中轻松夺冠。这场事故频发的比赛中，迈凯伦队友兼积分榜领跑者奥斯卡·皮亚斯特里与兰多·诺里斯在首个弯道因赛车相撞双双退赛。
迈凯伦车队两辆赛车早早退赛，可能对本赛季冠军争夺产生重大影响。车队机械师们目前面临严峻挑战，必须在正赛排位赛前完成两辆赛车的修复工作。
维斯塔潘在周六的短程冲刺赛中杆位发车，诺里斯位列第二，皮亚斯特里排名第三。基克索伯车队的尼科·霍肯伯格试图在第一弯道从皮亚斯特里内侧切入，结果发生碰撞，导致皮亚斯特里的赛车失控撞上诺里斯。
诺里斯的赛车失控打转并剧烈颠簸，导致一个后轮脱落。皮亚斯特里的赛车则遭遇了悬挂系统损坏。
阿斯顿·马丁车手兰斯·斯特罗尔与哈斯车手埃斯特班·奥康在比赛末段发生碰撞，导致这场19圈的赛事最终在安全车带领下结束。
这一结果使得正为连续第五个F1总冠军头衔发起赛季末冲刺的维斯塔潘，在赛季剩余六场大奖赛和两场冲刺赛后，将与领跑者皮亚斯特里的差距缩小至55分。
由于两辆迈凯伦赛车均退赛，皮亚斯特里仍以22分优势领先诺里斯。两位车手均在角逐个人首个赛季总冠军头衔。
这是迈凯伦两辆赛车连续第二站发生擦碰。在新加坡站的首圈，诺里斯与皮亚斯特里轮胎相撞，险些酿成事故。
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