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McLaren F1 team leaders Zak Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision took both team drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the ascending approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

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

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside 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."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

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

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

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

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial 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 adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

US GP

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

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