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McLaren F1 team bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his team-mate after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The incident eliminated both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Nico made contact with Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Andrea Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, make sure you don't damage competitors and continue."

The team clarified that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness 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 the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people further back just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

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

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, we are now concentrating on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the event from there."

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

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more prudence would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the championship one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with main event from 20:00 BST on the final day

Real-time analysis on sports radio, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app