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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Andrea Stella blamed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the standings by 22 points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision eliminated both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told broadcasters that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, make sure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando 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 collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now concentrating 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 performance point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was taken by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

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

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

US GP

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application