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McLaren Formula 1 bosses Zak Brown and Stella pointed to competitors for the crash between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint event.

Piastri, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, made contact with his team-mate after colliding with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg.

The collision took both team drivers from the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of Hulkenberg.

McLaren Leaders Voice Frustration Over Crash

Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, commented to Sky Sports that some of the racing at the start was "amateur hour", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg drove into Piastri and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise don't act with appropriate caution. Enter the initial turn, make sure you avoid harming other drivers and carry on."

McLaren indicated that the team principal was pointing to both Hulkenberg and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the first corner of an Formula 1 event when he chose to cut back to try to overtake Norris.

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

However he then moved inside in an attempt to get a run on his teammate on the exit, only to collide with the Sauber driver.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Less than perfect but I did not see what occurred, I tried to move inside on Lando and we were both very far from the apex and then were struck and it propelled me into Lando. Unfortunate."

Norris commented: "I just was struck, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just got unlucky and was struck because of it. I don't know. I need to look 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 right place on the inside, but some cars came very quickly from the outer side changing direction and then I was there in the center."

Hulkenberg, who had qualified a best qualifying fourth place, said: "Big frustrations. All the strong performance from the previous day in the bin. Just messy."

"Oscar turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the inside line and exit of the first corner but I cannot vanish."

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I couldn't see him any more. I aimed to provide room 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 racers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed extensive work before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general displeased but we take it on the chin, we are now focusing on fixing the vehicles, 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."

"The points are the key thing, I don't want to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

The race was won by Red Bull's Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers 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 points with both racers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two strong racers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

United States Grand Prix

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

Live commentary on sports radio, Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2; live text updates on BBC Sport website and mobile application