Zak Brown issues new Hulkenberg verdict after ‘amateur hour’ jab
Zak Brown rowed back on his criticism directed at Nico Hulkenberg
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown rowed back on his criticism of Nico Hulkenberg after a United States Grand Prix Sprint incident which eliminated both McLaren cars.
Brown had initially called out Hulkenberg for “amateur hour” driving as Oscar Piastri was sent crashing into Lando Norris, but having watched the footage again, Brown now accepts that Hulkenberg could not be held responsible for the crash.
Zak Brown: ‘I can’t really put that on Nico’
Piastri challenged Norris for second into Turn 1, but on the outside line, Piastri dropped off and looked for the switchback on exit. Unfortunately, Hulkenberg populated the area of track which Piastri thought he had spotted, resulting in contact.
Piastri was sent onto two wheels and slammed into the side of Norris’ sister McLaren, with both drivers eliminated from the race. Max Verstappen went on to win, inflicting a further eight points of damage on the McLaren duo as he looks to re-enter the title picture.
Offering his immediate reaction to Sky F1, Brown did not hold back.
“Yeah, that was terrible,” he said. “Neither of our drivers to blame there. Some amateur hour driving, some drivers up there at the front, wiped our two guys.
“Clearly Nico drove into Oscar, and he had no business being where he was. He went into his left rear tyre.”
Brown later rowed back on his criticism aimed towards Hulkenberg.
Asked during qualifying whether he still held the same views on that Sprint incident, Brown replied: “No. I’ve reviewed it. I think I’ve changed my view. I can’t really put that on Nico.
“So in the heat of the moment, obviously pretty bothered what I saw there, you know, a lot of incidents in Turn 1. But, I don’t think that’s on Nico.”
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris head-to-head in F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Sky F1 analyst Karun Chandhok looked back at the footage of that Turn 1 incident, concluding that Brown had been rather “harsh” to initially blame Hulkenberg in such a blunt manner.
“Max Verstappen started on pole, got a great start,” Chandhok began. “Piastri, on the outside, got a better run up to Turn 1. Clearly, he’s got his nose in front of Lando.
“But as they get to Turn 1, Lando comes back. He’s on the inside. He’s, fair enough, got the nose there, and at this point, it all looks quite calm.
“Oscar, you’d expect, or certainly Nico Hulkenberg expected, to be going there, so he gets a clean path, because he’s got this guy, Fernando Alonso, who’s coming down the inside. Now, as it transpired, Oscar then made that sharp turn left, straight into the path of Nico Hulkenberg. That left him with nowhere to go.
“We heard Zak Brown saying, after the incident, that it was sort of amateur hours, and I think that’s a bit harsh on Nico Hulkenberg, because actually, he didn’t have anywhere to go, and I don’t think he did anything wrong.”
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