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McLaren Formula 1 executives Zak Brown and Andrea Stella pointed to opposing racers for the collision between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by twenty-two points, bounced into his team-mate after hitting the Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both team drivers from the event, along with the Fernando Alonso, who was on the inner side of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Crash

Zak Brown, the team's chief executive officer, commented to Sky Sports that some of the driving at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Obviously Hulkenberg drove into Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Stella added: "Our feeling is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to compete."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, make sure you don't damage competitors and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was mentioning both Hulkenberg and Alonso.

Contrasting Views on the Incident

Nevertheless, former champion Damon Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he thought Piastri had not demonstrated enough understanding of the dangers of the first corner of an F1 race when he chose to cut back to try to pass Norris.

Piastri had a stronger launch than Norris and initially challenged on the outer side on the uphill entry to the corner.

However he then cut back in an attempt to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to make contact with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what happened, I attempted to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it sent me into Norris. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just got hit, right? I was not at fault. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and got hit because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more drivers behind just being a bit reckless and we are the consequence of that."

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

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a season-best fourth, said: "Big frustrations. All the good work from yesterday in the trash. Just messy."

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

"I had Fernando attack on the inside and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room for him and then Oscar steered inward and the contact was inevitable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

McLaren will analyze the incident with their drivers but only after the race weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 10 PM BST on the weekend.

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

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

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

Standings Impact

The race was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind the Australian and 33 behind of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers show - we lost eight championship points with both drivers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive vehicle and two strong drivers. We anticipate just some standard competition."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Real-time analysis on sports radio, additional channels and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on sports website and app