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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both team drivers from the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

McLaren suggested that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and initially challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outside 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 yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

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

"I had Fernando attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "In general displeased 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 restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by the Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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