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McLaren Formula 1 executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella blamed rival drivers for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by 22 points, crashed into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting the Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "inexperienced", stating: "Clearly Nico drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

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

The team indicated that the team principal was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he thought Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a stronger launch than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then were struck and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened 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 people further back just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the good work from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the inside line and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their drivers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "In general displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the event from there."

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

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be beneficial for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths says - we lost eight championship points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled racers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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