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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the crash between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The incident eliminated both McLaren drivers from the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, told broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", remarking: "Clearly Nico drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren clarified that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside 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 McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the incident with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and capitalise on our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with race from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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