Despite the night’s rain, the track, although flowing, was already dry for the slick tires at the start of the stop ahead of Alonso and behind Russell.
Piastri’s fall came as he rode his inner wheel at turn three, which was then launched into his car and into the barriers.
He sat in the car with his fingers inside his visor as he anticipated the likely damage to his title.
“Just trying to put it behind (me),” Pianstri said. “There are a lot of points on offer tomorrow, so the better job I can do to get myself a good starting place, the better.”
It was his fifth major mistake in as many races after a crash coming out of Baku in September, and a crash at the start of the Sprint Race in Austin three weeks ago.
Since Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August, Norris has 43 points on his team-mate in five weeks and has strong momentum in the championship.
Although there were yellow flags flowing, both Hulpenberg and Colapinto made the same mistake, each hitting the barrier a little more than the car before than the car before.
For the restart, Norris and Alonso switched to soft tires while the Mercedes and Ferrari Drivers and Verstappen went for mediums.
Mediums are the better option – Norris is forced from Antonelli in the closing laps but manages to treat him.
Alonso had more intense pressure from the Ferraris, but his defense finally cracked when he locked a wheel in turn one and Leclerc got him four and passed on the inside.