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McLaren F1 team leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident took both team drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with justful prudence. Enter the initial turn, ensure you don't damage competitors and continue."

The team suggested that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, 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."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inside, but some cars came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

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

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, 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 performance point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A little more prudence would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

October 17-19, with race from 20:00 BST on the final day

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