McLaren Racing Points Finger at Rival Drivers for Piastri-Norris Collision

McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

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

The collision forced out both team drivers from the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

The team clarified that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to look 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 believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the incident with their racers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I trust we have the possibility to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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