McLaren Blames Opposing Racers for Piastri-Norris Collision

McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed rival drivers for the crash between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash took both team drivers out of the race, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

The team clarified that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first competed on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded 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 people further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "In general 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 restart the event from there."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

US GP

October 17-19, with main event from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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