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McLaren F1 team leaders Zak Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both team drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

McLaren clarified that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage 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 occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, 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 further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

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

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

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

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the incident with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session 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 restart the weekend from there."

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

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

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

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

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

US GP

October 17-19, with main event from 8 PM BST on the final day

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