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McLaren F1 team executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the collision 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 standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Nico hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with necessary care. Go to the first corner, ensure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass his teammate.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the uphill approach to the corner.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. A shame."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers further back just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought 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: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

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

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall disappointed but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

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

"Championship points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more prudence would be good for all involved."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate 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 approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

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

Real-time analysis on sports radio, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application