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McLaren Formula 1 executives Zak Brown and Stella attributed competitors for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

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

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", remarking: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren suggested that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an F1 race when he chose to move inside to try to pass his teammate.

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

However he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I attempted to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant 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 things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, 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 best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and way out of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando attack 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 collision was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their racers but only after the event weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now concentrating on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

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

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

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

17-19 October, with race from 8 PM BST on Sunday

Real-time analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and extra coverage; live text updates on sports website and app