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McLaren F1 team bosses Zak Brown and Stella blamed opposing racers for the incident between Piastri and Norris at the start of the US GP sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of his teammate in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after making contact with Sauber's Hulkenberg.

The incident forced out both McLaren drivers out of the race, along with the Alonso, who was on the inside of the Sauber driver.

Team Executives Voice Frustration Over Incident

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing's CEO, stated to broadcasters that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", remarking: "Clearly Hulkenberg made contact with Oscar and he had no business being where he was."

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

"It's surprising that some drivers with a lot of experience don't act with necessary care. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming competitors and continue."

The team indicated that Stella was referring to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Contrasting Views on the Crash

However, 1996 world champion Hill, commentating for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, said he believed Piastri had not demonstrated enough awareness of the risks of the opening turn of an F1 race when he decided to cut back to try to overtake his teammate.

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

But he then moved inside in an effort to get a run on Norris on the way out, only to collide with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Incident

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

His teammate commented: "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 drivers behind just being a bit careless and we are the consequence of that."

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

The Sauber driver, who had qualified a season-best fourth place, said: "Major disappointment. All the strong performance from yesterday in the bin. Just chaotic."

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

"I had Fernando challenge on the inner side and I was unable to see him any more. I wanted to leave space for him and then Piastri turned in and the collision was unavoidable."

Aftermath and Team Response

The team will review the incident with their drivers but not until the race weekend. Both cars needed significant repairs before qualifying session at 22:00 BST on the weekend.

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

"We are in a strong position from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and utilize our capabilities."

"The points are the most important thing, I prefer not to talk about bad intentions, just caution. A bit more care would be beneficial for all involved."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was taken by the Verstappen, who closed in on both team racers in the championship - he is now fifty-five points behind Piastri and thirty-three adrift of Norris.

Stella said: "The implication is what the numbers says - we missed out on eight points with both drivers, but we focus on ourselves. We have a highly capable car and two skilled drivers. We look forward to just some normal racing."

Verstappen said he was approaching the title race one event at a time.

United States Grand Prix

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

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