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McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, crashed into his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both team drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Nico drove into Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team suggested that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than the Briton and at first competed on the outside 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 the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I attempted to move inside 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."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

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

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar 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 race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

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

"Championship 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."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

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

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race race by race.

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with main event 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 app