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McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Stella pointed to opposing racers for the collision between Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the standings by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The incident took both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Nico hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Andrea Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the chance to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and continue."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was mentioning both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. 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 right place on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"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 inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

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

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on Sunday

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