🔗 Share this article

McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One 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 Piastri steered inward and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will review the crash with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating on fixing the cars, 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 opportunity to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app