Marko identifies new McLaren crash culprit as Zak Brown retracts ‘amateur hour’ jab

Nico Hulkenberg was not to blame for the Turn 1 crash at the United States Sprint that put both McLarens out of the short race, nor were Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

It was, according to Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, Fernando Alonso who was the catalyst with Max Verstappen escaping the carnage that unfolded behind the pole sitter, who went on to win the Sprint.

McLaren Lap 1 Sprint crash: All you need to know

⦁ Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri retired after a Turn 1 crash in Sprint
⦁ Zak Brown blamed Nico Hulkenberg, but U-turned after a review
⦁ Helmut Marko believes Fernando Alonso was the trigger for the crash

The championship-leading McLaren teammates failed to score a single point between them in Saturday’s Sprint at the Circuit of the Americas after colliding at the very first corner.

Lining up second and third with Norris ahead, Piastri tried to pull a switchback move on his teammate into Turn 1 as he took a wider line around the outside with the intension of cutting back inside his teammate.

But with Nico Hulkenberg on his inside and a diving Fernando Alonso on the inside of the Sauber as he tried to pass, well, three does not go into one and Norris got tagged by the sister McLaren as the accident unfolded.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown was quick to point the finger at Hulkenberg’s “amateur hour driving”, adding: “Clearly Nico drove into Oscar, and he had no business being where he was. He went into his left rear tyre.”

Hours later he backtracked, admitting: “I’ve changed my view. I can’t really put that on Nico… I don’t think that’s on Nico.”

No, it’s on Alonso if you ask Marko.

The Red Bull advisor reckons Alonso’s dive down the inside of Hulkenberg triggered the collision, but that, at the end of the day, it was a racing incident.

“I think mainly Alonso took care of it,” Marko told Sky Deutschland. “After that, it became a chain reaction.

“That happens in the first corner. It invites, because it’s such a wide corner.

“It’s a racing incident, and I think the two McLaren drivers are innocent this time.”

Talking points from United States GP Sprint

👉Lando Norris delivers his verdict on race-ending Turn 1 clash

👉US Grand Prix: Verstappen wins Sprint as pile-up claims both McLarens

Nico Hulkenberg responds to Zak Brown’s comments

While Hulkenberg accepted Brown’s U-turn in the blame game, the Sauber driver rued a missed opportunity as he finished down in 13th place having lined up fourth on the grid.

Told that Brown had exonerated him, the German told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “Good. So we’re all in agreement then.

“Still frustrating and disappointing, because the car was strong and if we had kept it there, we would have scored points. I’m pretty confident and sure about that, but yeah, would have, could have, should have.”

Sharing his side, Hulkenberg seemed to put most of the blame on Piastri with the Australian driver’s sharp switchback

“I didn’t [have anywhere to go],” he said. “We were all obviously racing.

“Fernando was kind of taking the inside, but I knew he was diving in, but I didn’t know where he was exactly. He was in a blind spot at that moment, so I wanted to leave some space for him.

“And then Oscar turned in very suddenly and aggressively, wanted obviously to cut back for the exit, but obviously, I was there.

“Unfortunate for all of us.”

Damon Hill spots ‘irony’ in McLaren teammate crash

1996 World Champion Damon Hill called the crash ironic given that it came just one race after Norris and Piastri’s Singapore flashpoint that led to extensive discussions about McLaren’s papaya regulations.

And yet two weeks later, the McLaren teammates were again in the wars. This time, though, neither was to blame.

“I do think that Nico Hulkenberg slightly got suckered into going in a bit deep there,” Hill said in his assessment of the crash on BBC 5 Live, “and was not prepared for Oscar Piastri to cut across him quite the way that he did.

“And, of course, he couldn’t pull away, he couldn’t turn any further left, because on his inside was Fernando Alonso, so he was squeezed.”

“The irony of all this is that there was all this discussion about the drivers in McLaren not crashing into each other.

“Now they’ve both taken each other out, but neither of them were to blame for that at all.”

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