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McLaren F1 team leaders Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The crash eliminated both team drivers from the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", stating: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and carry on."

The team suggested that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first challenged on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

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

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

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

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze 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 concentrating on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, race normally and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A little more prudence would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we lost eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with main event 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