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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both McLaren drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, stated to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "inexperienced", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team clarified that Stella was mentioning both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to pass Norris.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outer side on the ascending approach to the corner.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

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

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back 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 people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

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

"We are in a competitive place from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate 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 approaching the championship race by race.

US GP

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

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