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McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Andrea Stella blamed opposing racers for the crash between Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

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

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments 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 corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso 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 middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we accept it, 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 competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the championship one event at a time.

US GP

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

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