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McLaren F1 team bosses Zak Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened 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 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 inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal 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 resume the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was taken by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

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

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

US GP

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

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