🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella blamed rival drivers for the collision between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision took both McLaren drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "inexperienced", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

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

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the turn.

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind 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 correct position on the inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, 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 hope we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

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

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

October 17-19, with main event from 20:00 BST on Sunday

Real-time analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application