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McLaren F1 team bosses Brown and Stella pointed to rival drivers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, leading Norris in the standings by 22 points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with the Nico Hulkenberg.

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

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, stated to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Obviously Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

The team boss Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we were denied the possibility to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with necessary care. Go to the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming competitors and carry on."

McLaren suggested that the team principal was mentioning both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not shown enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he decided to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and initially competed on the outside on the uphill approach to the turn.

But he then cut back in an effort to get a advantage on his teammate on the way out, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what occurred, I tried to cut back on Norris and we were both quite distant from the apex and then were struck and it sent me into Lando. Unfortunate."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Further back things happened and I just got unlucky 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 reckless and we are the consequence of that."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I thought I was in the right place on the inside, but some vehicles came very quickly from the outer side switching back and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had earned a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

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

"I had Alonso challenge on the inside and I was unable to see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will review the incident with their racers but only after the race weekend. Both cars needed extensive work before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "Overall displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on repairing the vehicles, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a strong position from our competitiveness point of view so I trust we have the opportunity 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 little more care would be good for everyone."

Standings Impact

The race was taken by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and 33 behind of the Briton.

Stella said: "The implication is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

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