🔗 Share this article

McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

The team indicated that the team principal was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage 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 happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless 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 vehicles came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will review the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall 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 resume the event from there."

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

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths show - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

Real-time analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and extra coverage; live text updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application