Nico Hulkenberg responds to Zak Brown’s retracted US GP sprint crash criticism

October 18, 2025

Sauber Formula 1 driver Nico Hulkenberg has responded to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown’s comments regarding the Turn 1 crash in the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

The German driver got caught up in a first-lap clash with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. While the stewards deemed the crash a racing incident, Brown initially put the blame on Hulkenberg.

“That was terrible,” Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the crash. “Neither of our drivers to blame there. Some amateur hour driving. Some drivers up there at the front whacked our two guys.”

He added: “I want to see the replay again, but clearly Nico drove into Oscar and he had no business being where he was.”

After the American had time to review the footage, he backtracked on his earlier comments. “I’ve reviewed it, I think I’ve changed my view. I can’t really put that on Nico,” Brown confirmed to Sky Sports F1. “In the heat of the moment, obviously pretty bothered what I saw there, a lot of incidents in Turn 1. But I don’t think that’s on Nico.”

Hulkenberg addressed the clash while speaking to the media in Austin after qualifying in 11th for the grand prix.

“Yeah, no, I didn’t [have anywhere to go]. We were all obviously racing. Fernando [Alonso] was kind of taking the inside, but I knew he was diving in, but I didn’t know where he was exactly.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing crash

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

“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. I wanted to cut back for the exit, but obviously, I was there. Yeah, unfortunate for all of us.”

When told that Brown had retracted his earlier comments, the Sauber driver added: “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.”

After starting from fourth in the sprint race, Hulkenberg managed to recover from the crash to finish in 13th.