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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after making contact with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both team drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the opportunity to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, 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 overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

However he then moved inside 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 Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more people 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 outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now concentrating on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

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

"Championship points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

US GP

17-19 October, with main event from 8 PM BST on the final day

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