McLaren Attributes Crash to Rival Drivers for Piastri-Norris Collision

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

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash took both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the uphill approach to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people further back just being a bit careless 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 inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively 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 provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

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

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with main event from 20:00 BST on the final day

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