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McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the crash between Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

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

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, former 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 pass his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the uphill entry to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

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

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

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing 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 trust we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for everyone."

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 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind 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 focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

US GP

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

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