Nico Hülkenberg expresses relief as Zak Brown revises his initial judgement about the incident in the first turn of the sprint race in Austin. During the initial phase of the shortened session at the Circuit of the Americas, Oscar Piastri collided with Lando Norris, resulting in both McLaren drivers being knocked out of the sprint. Brown initially blamed Hülkenberg as the main culprit for the ensuing pile-up, but retracted this judgement after reviewing the footage. ‘Well, then we all agree,’ Hülkenberg responds in turn.
The opening turn of the sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas turned into a nightmare for McLaren. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were both forced off the track due to the chaos in the opening phase. The chaos began when the Australian tried to overtake the Brit on the inside. However, Nico Hülkenberg was there, and he hit Piastri. A pile-up ensued, with the Australian subsequently colliding with his British teammate. Both McLaren drivers were thus unable to finish the shortened race on Saturday, and had to watch as Max Verstappen walked away with eight World Championship points.
Zak Brown immediately pointed to Hülkenberg as the cause of the pile-up after the incident. “That was terrible,” the American CEO told Sky Sports F1. “None of our drivers are to blame here. What amateurish driving. Some drivers at the front hit our two boys. I want to see the replay again, but it’s clear that Nico hit Oscar and he had no business being there.”
After reviewing the footage, however, Brown revised his initial stance. “I’ve looked back at it and I think I’ve changed my mind. I can’t really blame Nico Hulkenberg for this,” the CEO admitted. “In the heat of the battle, I was naturally quite upset by what I saw. There were many incidents in turn 1, but I don’t think this was Nico’s fault.”
Hülkenberg Responds
Nico Hülkenberg himself explained after the session that he had nowhere to go when Piastri attempted to overtake Norris. “We were of course racing, and Fernando (Alonso) was on the inside,” the German told the media present. “I didn’t exactly know where he was driving, he was in my blind spot, so I wanted to leave room for him. Then suddenly Oscar turned in very abruptly and aggressively. Unfortunately for all of us, I was naturally there.”
The German driver was then told that Zak Brown no longer sees Hülkenberg as the main culprit of the incident. “Well, then we all agree,” the Sauber driver responded. “It remains frustrating and disappointing, because the car was strong and if we had maintained that position, we would have scored points. I’m quite sure of that.”
