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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the crash between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

The team indicated that Stella was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first challenged on the outer side on the uphill entry to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. 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."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in 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 couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased 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 restart the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

Stella 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 highly capable vehicle and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the championship race by race.

US GP

17-19 October, with main event from 20:00 BST on the final day

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