🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Nico hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

McLaren clarified that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

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

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

Norris 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 review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side 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 unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "In general disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

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

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

US GP

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and app