McLaren Blames Competitors for Piastri-Norris Collision

McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the collision between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both team drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Clearly Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

The team indicated that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

Norris commented: "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 am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inside, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

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

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

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the title race race by race.

US GP

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

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