🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to rival drivers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, make sure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

The team clarified that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

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

However he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. 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 thoroughly. It's more drivers 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 vehicles came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, 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 strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by Red Bull's Verstappen, who closed in 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 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 strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on sports radio, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and app