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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The incident took both McLaren drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and continue."

The team indicated that the team principal was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

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

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless 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 inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

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

"Championship points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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