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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both team drivers out of the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "inexperienced", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Enter the first corner, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren clarified that Stella was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating 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 cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

The Australian had a better start than Norris and initially competed on the outer side on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I attempted to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "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 look a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the result 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 quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed 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 resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our performance 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 prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A little more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Standings Impact

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

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable vehicle and two strong racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

US GP

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

Live commentary on sports radio, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app