Monteiro and Sato blame one another after clash.

Tiago Monteiro and Takuma Sato were left pointing the finger at one another after coming together at the restart of the United States Grand Prix, having managed avoided the first corner clashes.

Two of the big winners from the first lap carnage, Monteiro and Sato had moved into ninth and eleventh positions under the safety car but under the restart David Coulthard was able to jump past the MF1 and when Sato attempted to follow the Red Bull through, the Super Aguri hit the inside kerb and slammed into the side of Monteiro.

Sato retired on the spot and although Monteiro managed to clamber back on track, albeit with a heavily damaged side pod, the Portuguese driver was soon back in the pit lane to end what has been a promising weekend for MF1.

It is not the first time MF1 and Super Aguri have had on track clashes and typically both Sato and Monteiro were unable to agree with one another over blame. Indeed, Sato claimed that Monteiro knew he was coming up the inside and closed the door on him.

"This is a disappointing end to a positive weekend," Sato said. "At the start of the race everyone packed into turn one and I managed to avoid the accident. I was prepared for the re-start and after the safety car went in I caught up to DC and Monteiro and at the end of the straight I was half a car length up beside Monteiro as I raced with him into turn one. He obviously saw me and he just kept pushing across me.

"By this time we had already started braking, so I couldn't go anywhere and he just kept coming and I ran out of space. I had to go over the kerb to avoid him, which is very high on this circuit, and this unfortunately launched the car up and off the track."

By contrast, Monteiro put Sato down as the culprit after making what he called an 'unrealistic' move on the inside of turn one. It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Monteiro, who had an eye on the points after emerging from the first corner in a stronger than usual position.

"It was a very short day, but that's racing sometimes. It's definitely frustrating, especially after such a competitive weekend and a great result for us here last here. We really wanted a good result here today and I think it was achievable, given our pace. The start of the race was very messy, with lots of cars getting tangled up, and I thought I was very lucky to get through that. I saw a gap, I dove for it, and fortunately, no one touched me, so I found myself running in P9 during the safety car period. It was still early in the race and, obviously, I knew there were some quick cars behind me, but we were still in a good position.

"Unfortunately, at the re-start, Sato made an unrealistic move on me heading into the corner, locking his wheels and ramming into me. It's a shame for everyone. We were looking for points today and in these circumstances, it was possible to get them. So I'm really sad for the guys on the team - they didn't deserve that - but we can't allow it to affect us. We have to keep pushing hard and do our best in Magny-Cours."