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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The crash took both team drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team team principal Andrea Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with necessary care. Go to the first corner, make sure you don't damage competitors and continue."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and at first competed on the outer side on the ascending entry to the corner.

However he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on Norris on the exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Norris. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck 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 consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit 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 collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the crash with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella 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 resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong 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

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

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