🔗 Share this article

McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the championship by twenty-two points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, told broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, make sure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

However he then cut back 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 haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "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 am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people further back 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 right place on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I was unable to 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

The team will review the incident with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

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

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A little more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

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

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and extra coverage; live text updates on sports website and mobile application