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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Nico hit Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

McLaren clarified that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. 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 carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the crash with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, 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 trust we have the opportunity to compete, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"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."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of Norris.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two strong racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

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