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McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Stella pointed to rival drivers for the collision between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

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

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

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

The team team principal Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren indicated that Stella was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than Norris and at first challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the corner.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

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

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

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

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

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A little more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

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

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

Verstappen said he was taking the championship race by race.

US GP

17-19 October, with main event from 20:00 BST on Sunday

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