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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident took both team drivers from the race, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Nico drove into Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, ensure you don't damage competitors and continue."

The team suggested that the team principal was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn 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 initially competed on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso 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 changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit 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 aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

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

"Our team holds a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

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

Championship Implications

The race was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of the Briton.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

US GP

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

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