McLaren Blames Opposing Racers for Team-Mate Crash

McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren clarified that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first competed on the outside on the uphill entry to the corner.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

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

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the incident with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall 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 weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The race was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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