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McLaren F1 team leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to opposing racers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint event.

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

The incident eliminated both team drivers out of the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, former champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and at first challenged on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then were struck and it sent me into Norris. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit careless 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 inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso challenge 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 collision was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the vehicles, 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 possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was taken by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The consequence is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong drivers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was taking the title race race by race.

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, 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 BBC Sport website and app