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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Clearly Nico hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to race."

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

McLaren indicated that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless 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 vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack 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 collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A little more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we lost 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 approaching the championship one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

October 17-19, with race from 20:00 BST on Sunday

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