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McLaren Formula 1 executives Brown and Andrea Stella attributed rival drivers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the beginning of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, leading his teammate in the championship by 22 points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision forced out both team drivers from the event, along with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, commented to broadcasters that some of the driving at the start was "amateur hour", stating: "Obviously Hulkenberg hit Piastri and he had no reason being where he was."

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella commented: "The reaction is that we are disappointed that we didn't have the possibility to race."

"It's surprising that some racers with a lot of experience fail to act with appropriate caution. Go to the first corner, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

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

Piastri had a better start than the Briton and at first challenged on the outside on the uphill approach 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 the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

The McLaren driver said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Norris and we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Lando. A shame."

Norris said: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Further back events unfolded and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to review a bit more carefully. It's more people behind just being a bit careless and we are the result of that."

Alonso said: "At one point I believed I was in the correct position on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Oscar turned in pretty aggressively trying to get the undercut and way out of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inside 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 unavoidable."

Aftermath and McLaren's Reaction

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

Stella said: "Overall disappointed but we accept it, we are now concentrating 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 performance point of view so I trust we have the possibility to compete, compete fairly and capitalise on our capabilities."

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

Standings Impact

The race was won by the Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind Piastri and thirty-three behind of Norris.

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

The Red Bull driver said he was approaching the championship one event at a time.

US GP

17-19 October, with race from 8 PM BST on Sunday

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