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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to competitors for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, leading Norris in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident took both McLaren drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, stated to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we didn't have the chance to race."

"It is unexpected that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with necessary care. Go to the first corner, ensure you don't damage other drivers and carry on."

The team suggested that Stella was mentioning both the Sauber driver and Alonso.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought the Australian had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first competed on the outer side on the uphill entry to the corner.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Driver Reactions After the Incident

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I tried to cut back 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 commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more people further back 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 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: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar steered inward pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of Turn One but I can't just disappear."

"I had Alonso attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

The team will review the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing 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 competitiveness point of view so I hope we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just prudence. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and 33 adrift of the Briton.

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

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Real-time analysis on BBC Radio 5 Live, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; real-time updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application