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McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Stella blamed rival drivers for the crash between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

Piastri, leading Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after hitting Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both team drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to compete."

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

The team indicated that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first challenged on the outer side on the ascending entry to the turn.

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

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit careless 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 cars came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of Norris.

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

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race race by race.

US GP

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

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