Jonathan Wheatley revealed apology text from McLaren chief Zak Brown and a personal apology to Nico Hulkenberg after the ‘amateur’ comment made during F1 US GP.
There was a bit of words shared after the F1 sprint in F1 US GP when McLaren’s Brown called out Sauber’s Hulkenberg an ‘amateur’ after the German collided with Oscar Piastri, which eventually caught out Lando Norris and even Fernando Alonso in the process in a four-car hit.
Out of the four, only Hulkenberg managed to continue on. The incident was noted as a racing incident, but Brown didn’t hold back immediately to Sky Sports F1. But post-qualifying, the American toned down on his said words, which caused a bit of stir on social media.
He changed his view, which was welcomed by Hulkenberg as well. “I’ve reviewed it and I think I’ve changed my view, I can’t really put that on Nico,” said Brown. “In the heat of the moment, obviously, I was pretty bothered by what I saw there. A lot of incidents in turn one, but I don’t think that’s on Nico.”
The incident happened when Piastri tried a switchback on Norris, taking the inside line in Turn 1. But the Australian was unaware that Hulkenberg on his left had Alonso incoming, for whom the German left space. It took only a moment to cause the incident which frustrated Brown.
Post-race, Sauber team boss Wheatley revealed that Brown sent him a text of apology and also apologised to Hulkenberg in person to end the matter. The Brit took it sportingly and brushed it down as a matter of passion and not malice in one’s statements.
“Zak sent me an apology really quickly afterwards, and he apologised personally to Nico,” said Wheatley to media. “This is a passionate sport, I love the passion, and you’ve got two cars fighting for a world championship, and those two cars get taken out at the first corner, it is easy to think it is somebody else’s fault sometimes, and you react with passion. It was heat of the moment, and the emotion, I’ve known Zak a really long time; he is a racer, we’re all racers, and we sorted it out afterwards.”
Here’s what Nico Hulkenberg said
Here’s Nico Hulkenberg on US GP
