McLaren Attributes Crash to Opposing Racers for Team-Mate Crash

McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, told broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", adding: "Clearly Nico drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, ensure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

The team suggested that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the ascending approach to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "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 don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed 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."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after 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 take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing 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 competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

Stella 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 very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

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

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