An opening-lap collision “ruined” Oscar Piastri’s British Grand Prix on Sunday, with the McLaren team copping backlash for their delayed response to the incident.

The Australian, who started eighth on the grid, got off to a promising start at Silverstone, surging past teammate Lando Norris before sustaining damage to his front wing on the run towards Turn 6. Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson had lost speed after dipping into the gravel, with Piastri making soft contact with the back of his car.

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“I think I have damage,” he said on the team radio.

However, the team McLaren was slow to react, not calling Piastri into the pits under the end of the second lap, at which point he had dropped down to 14th. When he emerged from the pits with a new front wing and fresh hard tyres, he was down in 21st.

The team later explained they did not have enough footage available to properly assess the damage before the end of the first lap.

“I got sandwiched by the Racing Bulls on the on the way to Turn 6 three wide down the straight and three into one didn’t work,” Piastri told Sky Sports after the race.

Aided by retirements, penalties and a late safety car, Piastri recovered to cross the finish line at 11th, narrowly missing the points, while Norris came fourth.

Ferrari’s Charlies Leclerc won the race, joined on the podium by Mercedes George Russell and teammate Lewis Hamilton.

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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted that Piastri’s race was “ruined” by the opening-lap incident.

“Today’s Grand Prix is a welcome result with good points overall for the team, but we are under no illusions about where we stand. We were the fourth-fastest car out there, and we benefited from the misfortune of others,” he said.

“Therefore, today’s result was a mixed bag for the team. We are pleased to come away with a fourth-place finish for Lando, which is beyond what we felt we deserved on pure pace.

“The strategy team did an excellent job though with the late stop, and Lando drove well to capitalise on the opportunities that arose during the race.

“Unfortunately, Oscar’s race was ruined on the first lap after being involved in an accident that damaged his front wing, preventing him from scoring any points.

“The clearest takeaway from this weekend is that we must improve the performance of the car. We have a consistent gap to the front-runners that we need to close if we are to be in contention for podiums and wins, which is our ultimate goal.

“We have some major upgrades planned for Hungary, and until then, the entire team trackside and at the factory must continue to work hard and maximise every opportunity.”

Norris complained that McLaren’s MCL40 does not have enough grip and downforce to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes.

“From a points perspective this weekend’s been pretty good. I’m pretty happy,” he said.

“The results have been pretty amazing. I’ve been happy with the P3 yesterday and the P4 today. On the contrary, the pace was pretty shocking.

“Really not happy with the car and how it was today. So it makes me even happier the fact that we finished P4.

“But we just stayed out of trouble. We avoided mistakes. Reliability was good. So the things that were important were good. But the car was just so difficult today. So we have a hell of a lot to improve.”

Piastri is currently sixth on the F1 standings with 82 points, with Norris ahead of him in fifth with 97 points.

“A tough day. I got sandwiched on the first lap which broke my front wing. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could have done and it ruined my race,” Piastri said.

“Our pace was a bit stronger today, and the car was better in clean air, but the collision meant we couldn’t capitalise on any of it.

“The team are working hard to improve the car, especially around rear grip, so we will keep pushing. We’ll debrief and turn our focus to Spa.”

The F1 season resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, July 19.