McLaren Blames Competitors for Piastri-Norris Collision

McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the chance to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

The team clarified that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and initially challenged on the outer side on the uphill entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A little more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by the Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of the Briton.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we lost eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with main event from 8 PM BST on the final day

Live commentary on sports radio, additional channels and extra coverage; real-time updates on sports website and mobile application