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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

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

McLaren F1 boss 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 expertise don't act with necessary care. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, 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.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and initially challenged on the outside on the uphill entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

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

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of the Briton.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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