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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella attributed competitors for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Nico hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

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

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

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the corner.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

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

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

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

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 turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One 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 steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal 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 event from there."

"We are in a competitive place 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 key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more prudence would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The race 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 adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we lost eight points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

US GP

October 17-19, with main event from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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