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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella pointed to rival drivers for the crash between Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision took both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Nico drove into Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the turn.

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line 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 provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their racers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

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

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

"Championship points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship race by race.

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 8 PM BST on Sunday

Real-time analysis on sports radio, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and app