"Papaya rules are finally over hopefully": Fans react to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri crashing out of the F1 US GP Sprint

McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris collided on the opening lap in a typical turn one clash in COTA. This meant that the papaya duo came to the wars for the second race weekend running, leading fans to assert that the papaya rules are seemingly over after the pair's clash during the Sprint race.

Over the past three race weekends, Norris has outscored Piastri and reduced his deficit in the championship to 22 points. Moreover, the Sprint race in Texas seemingly provided the Briton to make a further dent into Piastri's lead if the top three finished in the same order as they started.

However, heading into turn one, Piastri had gotten the jump on his teammate, and in an attempt to line up a switchback move, he was tagged by Nico Hulkenberg. This ricocheted him into Norris' car, ending the McLaren driver's race then and there.

Subsequently, fans reacted to the pair's clash on the opening lap amid all the papaya rules saga, and shared their thoughts on the whole ordeal:

"Papaya rules are finally over hopefully lmaoooo." "5 WDC INCOMINGGGGG," one fan wrote. "Piastri not looking around at all," another fan wrote.

Fans soon looked at Max Verstappen gaining ground on the papaya duo due to their clash and wrote:

"Max winning #5 just feels inevitable," one netizen wrote. "Du du duddu~," another netizen wrote. "At this rate McLaren drivers are going to give Verstappen the driver championship," a third netizen shared.

Meanwhile, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's crash marks the pair's third time colliding with each other in their time as teammates.

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Lando Norris reflects on his clash with Oscar Piastri in COTA

McLaren's Lando Norris after the sprint qualifying session for the United States GP race weekend - Source: Getty

Lando Norris arrived at the United States GP to keep up his momentum and make further dents into Oscar Piastri's championship lead. Moreover, he led the sole free practice session and looked set to be one of the contenders for the sprint pole.

Though he was snubbed by Max Verstappen for the fastest lap, he would still have gained a point over his teammate if they had finished in the same place as the race start. But the lap one crash threw this possibility out of the window.

So, reflecting on his crash, he told Sky Sports in the post-sprint interview:

"No idea. I mean got hit like what else was I meant to do? So, no I need to look at it a bit more. I just got here, I got taken out so not a lot I could have done."

The McLaren garage would now have to repair two cars to be ready for the qualifying session later in the day, or else the trouble for the Woking-based squad would amplify into the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Edited by Geetansh Pasricha