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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both team drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

The team indicated that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, 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 pass Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

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

His teammate said: "I just got hit, 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 thoroughly. It's more people further back just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

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

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing the cars, 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 trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 behind of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths says - we lost eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on the final day

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