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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Brown and Andrea Stella attributed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", stating: "Clearly Nico hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team indicated that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to pass Norris.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, 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 earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will review the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

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

"We are in a competitive place from our performance point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

US GP

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

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