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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Zak Brown and Andrea Stella attributed opposing racers for the crash between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint race.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after making contact with the Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Express Disappointment Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "unprofessional", stating: "Obviously Nico drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the chance to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the initial turn, ensure you don't damage other drivers and continue."

The team suggested that Stella was referring to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, providing analysis for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and initially challenged on the outside on the ascending entry to the turn.

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri 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 apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us events unfolded and I just was unfortunate and was struck because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more thoroughly. It's more drivers 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 vehicles came very quickly from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

The Sauber driver, who had earned a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the trash. Just messy."

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

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

McLaren will analyze the crash with their racers but not until the event weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on fixing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will restart the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and utilize our performance."

"Championship points are the most important thing, I don't want to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

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

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we lost eight points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

The Red Bull driver said he was taking the title race one event at a time.

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 20:00 BST on Sunday

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