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McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, stated to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "inexperienced", adding: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

McLaren clarified that Stella was referring to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outside on the uphill entry to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless 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 fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

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

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall 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 competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we lost eight points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

US GP

October 17-19, with race from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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