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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both team drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Nico drove into Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

The team suggested that the team principal was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first competed 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 exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

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

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating 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 competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A little more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

US GP

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

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