McLaren Racing Blames Rival Drivers for Norris-Piastri Incident

McLaren Formula 1 executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both team drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the opportunity to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the corner.

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

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. 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 cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

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

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

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

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

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

"Championship points are the key 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 taken by the 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.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship race by race.

US GP

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

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