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McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella pointed to competitors for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the standings by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both McLaren drivers from the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Crash

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the front was "unprofessional", adding: "Clearly Nico made contact with Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

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

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

However, former champion Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he chose to move inside to try to overtake his teammate.

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

But he then moved inside in an attempt to get a advantage on Norris on the way out, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I did not see what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. 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 believed I was in the right place on the inside, but some cars came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the center."

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just chaotic."

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

"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 Oscar turned in and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we accept it, 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 strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for everyone."

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and thirty-three behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we missed out on eight points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was taking the title race race by race.

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 Sports Extra 2; live text updates on sports website and mobile application