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McLaren F1 team leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash took both team drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, ensure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

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

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

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

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. 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 vehicles came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"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 contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying 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 restart the event from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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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