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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to opposing racers for the collision between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

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

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

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to compete."

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

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first challenged on the outer side on the ascending approach to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to hit the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

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

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

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side 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 inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session 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 event from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

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

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

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

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