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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

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

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Nico hit Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to race."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Enter the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren suggested that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event 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 entry to the corner.

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit careless 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 quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the incident with their racers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

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."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to race, race normally and capitalise on our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

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

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

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

US GP

October 17-19, with race from 8 PM BST on the final day

Real-time analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application