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George Russell’s reaction to watching Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ crash during the United States Grand Prix sprint race has emerged.
Piastri collided with Nico Hulkenberg on the inside of turn one after the Australian tried to cut back to overtake team-mate Norris for second place.
The collision sent Piastri into the side of Norris’ McLaren, eliminating both drivers and Fernando Alonso, who was collected by Hulkenberg.
Several cars had to take evasive action, with Russell and Carlos Sainz able to profit significantly as they ended up in second and third – where they both finished the sprint.
Hulkenberg’s front wing slid under the Red Bull car of Yuki Tsunoda – with the Sauber driver ironically running over it later in the lap when it dropped into the middle of the circuit.
The FIA stewards took no action over the turn one chaos, deeming it to be a racing incident.
Both Norris and Piastri declined to make any detailed comment on the incident in their post-race interviews, while McLaren CEO Zak Brown – who is Sky Sports’ pitwall guest for the weekend – initially blamed Hulkenberg in the immediate aftermath but later rowed back on those comments.
Russell was interviewed live on Sky Sports in the paddock following the sprint – and his assessment of the incident as he was shown it for the first time appeared to speak volumes.
The Mercedes driver, who signed a multi-year contract to stay with the team this week, said: “Alright, ooh. Yeah, cut back [from Piastri]. I mean, yeah.”
He added, before laughing? “Is that anyone’s fault?
“I don’t know, I don’t want to say anything controversial!
“Yeah, when you cut back there’s always a bit of a blind spot, so… he’s [Piastri] turned in. Yeah, it reminds me a bit of when I T-boned Carlos at turn one a few years ago.”
After winning the sprint race, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will also be on pole for the race proper on Sunday.
McLaren rebuilt both Norris and Piastri’s cars ahead of qualifying but neither had significant pace until Q3, when Norris managed to qualify in second place with his best lap of the weekend.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were third and fifth in what appears to be an improved Ferrari this weekend in terms of performance, with Russell separating them in fourth.
Piastri, meanwhile, is all the way down in sixth, with his quickest lap over half a second slower than Verstappen.
The Australian did not light up the timesheets in any of the three sessions and will have work to do on Sunday to climb up the order.
The race starts at 8pm UK time and will be ran over 56 laps.
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