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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to rival drivers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision took both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Nico hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the chance to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

The team clarified that the team principal was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and initially 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 Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions 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 quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the crash with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

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

Championship Implications

The race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on the final day

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