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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both team drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the first corner, ensure you don't damage competitors and continue."

McLaren suggested that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the corner.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

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

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso 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."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will analyze the crash with their drivers 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 disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to race, race normally and utilize our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on sports website and mobile application