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McLaren F1 team executives Brown and Stella pointed to opposing racers for the incident between Piastri and Lando Norris at the start of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The Australian driver, ahead of Norris in the standings by twenty-two points, bounced into his fellow McLaren driver after colliding with the Hulkenberg.

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

McLaren Leaders Express Disappointment Over Incident

Brown, the team's CEO, told Sky Sports that some of the racing at the front was "amateur hour", adding: "Clearly Hulkenberg hit Oscar and he had no reason being where he was."

The team team principal Stella stated: "Our feeling is that we are displeased that we didn't have the opportunity to compete."

"It is unexpected that some racers with a lot of expertise fail to act with justful prudence. Enter the initial turn, ensure you avoid harming other drivers and continue."

McLaren suggested that Stella was pointing to both the Sauber driver and the Aston Martin driver.

Differing Perspectives on the Crash

Nevertheless, former champion Hill, commentating for a sports broadcast, said he believed the Australian had not shown enough understanding of the risks of the opening turn of an Formula 1 event when he decided to move inside to try to overtake Norris.

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

However he then cut back in an effort to get a run on his teammate on the way out, only to make contact with Hulkenberg.

Racer Comments After the Collision

Piastri said: "Not ideal but I haven't seen what happened, I tried to cut back on Lando and we were both quite distant from the corner apex and then got a hit and it propelled me into Norris. A shame."

His teammate said: "I just got hit, right? I did nothing wrong. Behind us things happened and I just was unfortunate and got hit 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."

The Aston Martin driver said: "At one point I believed I was in the right place on the inner side, but some vehicles came very fast from the outside changing direction and then I was there in the middle."

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

"Piastri turned in pretty forcefully trying to get the undercut and exit 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 leave space for him and then Oscar steered inward and the collision was unavoidable."

Post-Crash and McLaren's Reaction

The team will analyze the crash with their drivers but only after the event weekend. Both vehicles needed significant repairs before grand prix qualifying at 22:00 BST on Saturday.

The team principal said: "In general disappointed but we accept it, we are now focusing on repairing the cars, there is a lot to do and then we will resume the weekend from there."

"We are in a competitive place from our performance point of view so I hope we have the possibility to race, compete fairly and capitalise on our performance."

"The points are the key thing, I prefer not to talk about mal-intent, just prudence. A bit more prudence would be good for everyone."

Championship Implications

The sprint event was won by the Max Verstappen, who closed in on both McLaren drivers in the standings - he is now 55 points behind the Australian and 33 behind of the Briton.

The team boss said: "The consequence is what the maths show - we missed out on eight championship points with both racers, but we concentrate on ourselves. We have a very competitive car and two skilled drivers. We anticipate just some normal racing."

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

US GP

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