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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision took both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", adding: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

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

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind 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 inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing 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 performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by the Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

US GP

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

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