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

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "inexperienced", adding: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "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 don't act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

The team clarified that the team principal was referring to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, former champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass Norris.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first challenged on the outer side on the ascending approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on Norris on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. 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 thoroughly. It's more people 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 correct position on the inside, but some cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

October 17-19, with race from 8 PM BST on the final day

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