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

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by 22 points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", stating: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

The team clarified that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

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

But he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. 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 right place on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

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

Stella said: "In general disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on Sunday

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