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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Stella attributed competitors for the collision between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after hitting the Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "inexperienced", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Stella stated: "Our feeling 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 justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion 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 F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

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

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

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

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

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

Post-Crash and Team Response

McLaren 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 the weekend.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed 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 event from there."

"Our team holds a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

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

Stella said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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 the final day

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