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

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both team drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Enter the initial turn, make sure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, former champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to pass Norris.

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

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

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

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge 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 collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

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

"We are in a competitive place 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 most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by Red Bull's Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we lost eight championship points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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