McLaren Racing Blames Rival Drivers for Piastri-Norris Collision

McLaren Formula 1 leaders Brown and Andrea Stella attributed competitors for the collision between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident took both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg 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 the Australian had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to pass Norris.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first challenged on the outer side on the ascending entry to the corner.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers 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 correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. 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 attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the incident with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our performance point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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