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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the collision between 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, crashed into his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both team drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, make sure you don't damage competitors and continue."

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

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit careless 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 cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating on fixing the cars, 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 opportunity to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

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

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

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

US GP

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

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