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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella blamed rival drivers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision took both team drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

McLaren indicated that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

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

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was taken by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

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

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

US GP

17-19 October, with main event from 8 PM BST on the final day

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