🔗 Share this article

McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident eliminated both team drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Clearly Nico drove into Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren suggested that Stella was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

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

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso 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."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

"I had Fernando attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will review the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

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

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

Real-time analysis on sports radio, Sports Extra and extra coverage; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application