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

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, make sure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis 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 chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

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

Norris said: "I just was struck, 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 carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

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

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be beneficial 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 Piastri and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the title race race by race.

United States Grand Prix

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

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