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

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both McLaren drivers from the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "unprofessional", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Stella added: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

The team clarified that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

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

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

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. Unfortunate."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position 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 earned a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner 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 leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

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

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three behind of Norris.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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