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McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

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

The collision took both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Clearly Nico hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

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

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

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. 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 fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

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

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will review the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

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

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more prudence would be beneficial 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 33 behind of Norris.

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

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race race by race.

US GP

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

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