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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Brown and Andrea Stella attributed opposing racers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The crash took both team drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar 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 were denied the chance to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and at first competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Not ideal but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people 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 right place on the inner side, but some cars came very fast from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando attack on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Piastri turned in and the contact was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the incident with their drivers but not until 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 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 event from there."

"Our team holds a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, race normally and utilize our performance."

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

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two skilled racers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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