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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Stella attributed competitors for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of Norris in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

The incident took both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "unprofessional", stating: "Clearly Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella commented: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

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

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from the previous day in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Piastri steered inward and the contact was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their racers but not until the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

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

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the opportunity to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A little more prudence would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

Verstappen said he was approaching the championship race by race.

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on sports radio, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and app