🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident took both team drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the initial turn, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky 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 thought I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line 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 contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general 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 restart the event from there."

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

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

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of the Briton.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship race by race.

US GP

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and extra coverage; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app