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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Stella attributed rival drivers for the collision between Piastri and Lando Norris at the beginning of the US GP sprint event.

The Australian driver, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after hitting Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with Aston Martin's Alonso, who was on the inner side of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, McLaren Racing's chief executive officer, told broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "inexperienced", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Go to the initial turn, ensure you don't damage competitors and continue."

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

Contrasting Views on the Incident

However, 1996 world champion Damon Hill, providing analysis for a sports broadcast, said he thought the Australian had not shown enough awareness of the dangers of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to pass Norris.

The Australian had a stronger launch than Norris and initially competed on the outside on the ascending entry to the corner.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to hit 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 Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit because of it. I am unsure. I need to look a bit more carefully. It's more drivers further back just being a bit reckless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I thought I was in the correct position on the inside, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside switching back and then I was there in the middle."

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

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

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to leave space for him and then Oscar turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

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

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing 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 trust we have the possibility to race, race normally and utilize our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

The race was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who gained ground on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and thirty-three adrift of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled 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

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

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