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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, ensure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

The team clarified that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso attack 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 collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

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

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now concentrating 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 capitalise on our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A little more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Standings Impact

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

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we lost eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the title race one event at a time.

US GP

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

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