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McLaren F1 team bosses Zak Brown and Stella blamed rival drivers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both team drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the chance to compete."

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

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the uphill entry to the turn.

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

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened 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 drivers further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

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

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

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, race normally and utilize our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A little more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths show - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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