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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to rival drivers for the crash between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico 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 Express Disappointment Over Crash

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

McLaren F1 team principal Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

McLaren suggested that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the ascending approach to the corner.

But he then cut back in an attempt to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people further back just being a bit careless 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 center."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from the previous day in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren will review the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing 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 competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

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

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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