🔗 Share this article

McLaren Formula 1 leaders Brown and Andrea Stella blamed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, told broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "unprofessional", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

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

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

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

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

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

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

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race race by race.

US GP

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

Real-time analysis on sports radio, Sports Extra and extra coverage; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and app