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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. 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 inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

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

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will analyze the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed 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 resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for all involved."

Championship Implications

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

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the championship race by race.

US GP

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

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