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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella pointed to competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both team drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team suggested that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding 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 better start than Norris and initially challenged on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then moved inside 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 did not see what occurred, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inner side, 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 season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing the cars, 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 hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

US GP

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

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