🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Andrea Stella attributed opposing racers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

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

However he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence 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 fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will analyze the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our performance point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and utilize our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on sports radio, Sports Extra and extra coverage; live text updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application