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McLaren Formula 1 leaders Brown and Stella blamed competitors for the incident between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

The crash forced out both McLaren drivers out of the event, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, the team's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "inexperienced", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella added: "The reaction is that we are displeased that we were denied the chance to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren clarified that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

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

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and initially challenged on the outside on the ascending approach to the turn.

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to hit Hulkenberg.

Driver Reactions After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate commented: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit reckless 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 inner side, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Oscar steered inward pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of Turn One but I cannot vanish."

"I had Alonso attack on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Post-Crash and Team Response

The team will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before qualifying session at 10 PM BST on Saturday.

Stella 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."

"Our team holds a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity to race, race normally and capitalise on our performance."

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

Standings Impact

The sprint event was won by Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who gained ground on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

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

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

US GP

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

Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app