US GP: Lando Norris vows to change nothing to start approach after Oscar Piastri collision in bid to beat Max Verstappen to win | F1 News

Lando Norris has insisted the collision with Oscar Piastri that saw both McLarens crash out of the Sprint will not change his approach to the start of Sunday's United States Grand Prix, as he vowed to aim for victory on what could prove a crucial day in the F1 title race.

At the end of a tumultuous Saturday for McLaren after their title-contending drivers collided for the second consecutive weekend – this time with race-ending effect – at the first corner of the Sprint race, Norris bounced back better than Piastri in the final Grand Prix qualifying session to take second place on the grid behind Max Verstappen.

Championship leader Piastri struggled to reach sixth, a starting position that opens the door for Verstappen and Norris to take more points off the Australian's dwindling title lead in Sunday's 56-lap race.

And Norris, who trails his teammate by 22 points after beating him in the previous three Grands Prix, says what happened in the Sprint has no bearing on his mindset for the race.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 If he viewed Sunday's start of the first uphill turn differently, Norris said: “No, because compared to this morning I didn't do anything wrong there.

“I want to win. I hate being on second or third place [of the podium]I prefer not to be there.

“I'm here to win the races and I'm going to try to do that, so I'll do whatever I have to do to get this opportunity.”

Norris will share the front row with Verstappen for the second consecutive day at the Circuit of the Americas.

However, unlike Friday's sprint qualifying where the two drivers were separated by just 0.071 seconds, Saturday's gap between the cars widened to a more dominant 0.291 seconds in favor of Red Bull.

Norris described his McLaren as having been “just impossible to drive” on a bumpy track, making second place “almost a surprise”.

And given the always limited testing on a Sprint weekend and the fact that neither McLaren car completed a Sprint lap, Norris admitted they would approach Sunday facing many unknowns.

“We didn't do more than three laps in a row and no more than 40 kg of fuel. I have no idea. We don't know if it will be amazing or terrible,” he said.

“It’s so difficult with the bumps, the dips, the wind. It’s unpredictable.

“We were hoping to learn a lot from the Sprint in terms of changing the car settings between qualifying and the race and then making adjustments. It didn't go as planned so we're behind. I guess we'll try not to use that as an excuse tomorrow.”

Does McLaren still have an ace up its racing sleeve?

After an initial challenge from Mercedes' George Russell, Verstappen eventually won the 19-lap sprint quite comfortably from pole to reduce his championship deficit with Piastri to 55 points.

But amid hot weather throughout the weekend in Austin, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella remains hopeful that her team's renowned tire degradation capabilities will eventually pay off against Red Bull over the full distance of the race.

“We have to prove now that we are strong from a racing point of view,” Stella said. Sky Sports F1.

“We're looking forward to racing tomorrow because it was really disappointing not to be part of the Sprint.

“As I said before the Sprint, if we can do a bit of racing, I think we can take advantage of the car's strengths, especially in hot conditions and when we have tire degradation.

“We're looking forward to tomorrow, that's our goal and we have to stay focused.”

Piastri: This weekend is far from over

Staying focused is now clearly a key requirement for the Piastri weekend, after the championship-leading driver followed McLaren's Sprint wipeout – caused after he collided with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg to set off a chain reaction – with his second-worst qualifying result of the season.

Piastri, who has not beaten either Norris or Verstappen in a race since winning the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August and had already qualified behind both on Friday, admits he “struggled” throughout Saturday's session.

However, the Australian is far from having canceled his weekend from the third row.

“Obviously, when you don't have the rhythm you want, it's never the most pleasant feeling,” Piastri said.

“But there are a lot of opportunities tomorrow, there are strategy things, hopefully our race pace will be good, it’s a track we can overtake on, so we’ll see what we can do.”

“The weekend is far from over.”

Will Red Bull's adjustments prove 'enough' for Verstappen?

McLaren's struggles continue to be good news for Verstappen and Red Bull as their once-unlikely return to the championship threatens to take even more momentum from the front of the grid on Sunday.

Verstappen himself, however, warned after winning the Sprint that Red Bull “needs to be a little better in race setup to be able to fight the McLarens” because “we haven't seen any of that.”

Like all teams, Red Bull will have been able to modify the settings of its car between the end of the Sprint and the main qualifying in order to find a more optimal balance for the challenges of the Grand Prix.

“I hope it will be better for tomorrow. It's difficult to say what will happen,” Verstappen said.

“I felt a bit happier with the car compared to qualifying yesterday, so hopefully that will be good enough for the race.”

Sky Sports F1 US GP Live Schedule

Sunday October 19
6:30 p.m.: Sunday Grand Prix: preparation for the United States GP*
8 p.m.: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX*
10 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction from the United States GP
11 p.m.: Ted’s notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in North America for the United States Grand Prix in Austin, live on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event with Sunday's race at 8 p.m. (prep from 6:30 p.m.). Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime