F1 United States GP: Piastri forced to retire and Ricciardo dead last in Aussie shocker

Oscar Piastri’s race ended in heartbreaking fashion as Daniel Ricciardo struggled in a double Aussie shocker at the United States GP.

Oscar Piastri on the McLaren pit wall after he had to retire from the race. Photo: Fox Sports.

Max Verstappen has won the United States Grand Prix to claim his 15th victory of the season and 50th win overall on a day to forget for the Australian drivers.

After a rare mistake in qualifying cost him pole position, Verstappen had to bide his time and work his way through the field after starting in sixth.

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Lando Norris passed Charles Leclerc to take the lead on the opening corner, but Verstappen took the lead midway through the race at the Circuit of the Americas.

Despite the best efforts of Mercedes and McLaren to stay in touch with Verstappen with funky tyre ‘offset’ strategies, Verstappen proved he is simply in a class of his own as he held on for victory ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Norris.

Aussie rookie Oscar Piastri was unfortunately forced to retire from the race in the early stages due to cooling issues with his McLaren as a result of an accidental collision with Esteban Ocon at the start.

The sight of Piastri watching the race on the pit wall wasn’t a great one for McLaren fans.

“Just went around the outside. I don’t know if we had a bit of a moment on the bump or whatever,” Piastri said of the contact with Ocon.

Oscar Piastri on the McLaren pit wall after he had to retire from the race. Photo: Fox Sports.

“Just a bit of contact at the exit and it might have broke one of the radiators, but something on the right side of the car broke. 

“Definitely not one of the best weekend. Today was looking a fair bit better but still some things to work on and improve. 

“Character building weekend but these are the kind of weekends that are very important in my first season. Definitely trying to learn what I can.”

In his first race back from a broken hand, Daniel Ricciardo had a solid start but finished 17th, dead last out of the drivers who finished the race.

AlphaTauri decided to pit him late in the race, while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda was 10th and even pinched an extra championship point from Ricciardo with the fastest lap of the race.

United States Grand Prix results (top 10)

1) Max Verstappen

2) Lewis Hamilton

3) Lando Norris

4) Carlos Sainz

5) Sergio Perez

6) Charles Leclerc

7) George Russell

8) Pierre Gasly

9) Lance Stroll

10) Yuki Tsuonda

7.23am - Lap 48/56 - Hamilton makes late charge

Lewis Hamilton is making a late charge for the win, getting past Lando Norris into second place with a handful of laps to go.

His pace is slightly faster than Verstappen’s but will need to pull off a miracle overtake to win.

6.53am - Lap 30/56 - Verstappen takes lead

After biding his time, Max Verstappen leads the race after overtaking Lando Norris midway through the race.

Now McLaren and Mercedes are hoping an ‘offset’ tyre strategy can help Norris and Lewis Hamilton stay in touch with Verstappen in the closing stages.

6.30am - Ricciardo plodding along nicely

Danie Ricciardo is driving a solid race and is up into 10th place.

If he can keep this up he might be able to snag a world championship point in his first race back from a broken hand.

6.21am — Piastri out of the race

Oscar Piastri has unfortunately been forced to retire after 10 laps due to an issue with his McLaren.

Piastri hasn’t had the best weekend but a DNF is still a bitter pill to swallow.

“I’m afraid we’ve got to retire the car,” he was told over team radio.

Sky Sports’ Ted Kravitz said Piastri suffered “damage to the radiator and a water leak” as a result of his collision with Esteban Ocon at the start.

Oscar Piastri had to retire from the race.

6.07am — Norris takes lead in hectic start

Lando Norris took the lead with a lightning start, overtaking Charles Leclerc into the first corner and opening up a handy lead in the early laps.

Oscar Piastri and Esteban Ocon bumped into each other slightly and the Alpine driver said he had damage to his sidepod and was forced to retire from the race.

Piastri made an excellent start and jumped from 10th up to sixth place, even attempting to get past Max Verstappen.

Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports: “Both McLarens getting off the start line very well indeed.”

“Look at Piastri trying to get past Verstappen!”

David Croft said: “This is a perfect start for Lando Norris.”

The three-time world champion is in fifth and will need to chase down Norris, Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton in front of him.

LAP 7/56

Game over for Esteban Ocon 😖

Looks like contact with Piastri has forced his retirement #F1#USGPpic.twitter.com/chtUkskSsb

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 22, 2023

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and Oscar Piastri having amazing race starts.

— did oscar score points in f1 today? (@oscarpiastri81) October 22, 2023

5.50am — Four cars wiped off the grid

Both Haas and Aston Martin cars will start Sunday’s United States Grand Prix from the pitlane.

The teams elected to make changes to their set-ups following Saturday’s sprint, resulting in grid penalties.

Fernando Alonso of Spain. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images.

Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg had qualified 14th and 16th, while Aston’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll had been due to start 17th and 19th.

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari is on pole with triple world champion Max Verstappen’s Red Bull back on the third row after qualifying in sixth.

5am — Sprint race madness

Aussie Oscar Piastri had a sprint race to forget on Sunday morning as Max Verstappen cruised to a dominant win.

Verstappen was fastest in the Sprint Shootout qualifying and cruised to victory in the Sprint ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

It was a race to forget for Piastri, who started the Sprint in fifth but fell to 10th as his McLaren struggled on medium tyres.

Piastri got passed by Sergio Perez, Sainz, Pierre Gasly and George Russell — although the Mercedes driver was given a five-second penalty for overtaking Piastri when he was off the track.

Russell’s engineer told him: “We think you got pushed off first.”

Originally published as F1 United States GP: Piastri forced to retire and Ricciardo dead last in Aussie shocker