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McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella pointed to rival drivers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision took both McLaren drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Clearly Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate 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 reckless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

"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 steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying 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 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 possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A little more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the championship race by race.

US GP

17-19 October, with main event from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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