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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella attributed opposing racers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, 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 Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "inexperienced", adding: "Obviously Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella added: "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 don't act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers 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 initially competed on the outer side on the ascending entry to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I attempted to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

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

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

Standings Impact

The race was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and 33 adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable 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 race from 8 PM BST on the final day

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