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

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella added: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a better start than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

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

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. A shame."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. 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 vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

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

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the incident with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths says - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some standard competition."

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the title race one event at a time.

US GP

October 17-19, with race from 8 PM BST on the final day

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