McLaren Racing Blames Rival Drivers for Norris-Piastri Incident

McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella attributed competitors for the crash between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both team drivers from the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", adding: "Clearly Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

McLaren clarified that Stella was referring to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and initially competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Piastri steered inward 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 couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

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

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

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

Standings Impact

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

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

Verstappen said he was approaching the title race race by race.

US GP

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

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