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McLaren F1 team bosses Zak Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's CEO, told broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

The team suggested that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first competed on the outside on the uphill entry to the corner.

But he then cut back in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, 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 Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal 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 resume the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope 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 prudence would be good for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by the Max 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 maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

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

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