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Sauber team boss Jonathan Wheatley has revealed that McLaren's Zak Brown has personally apologized to Nico Hulkenberg for the comments he made about the German during the United States GP Sprint. The American had blamed the driver for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 of the race, in an incident which saw both Papaya cars crash out of the race.
On Lap 1 of the US GP Sprint, Hulkenberg collided with Oscar Piastri, sending the Aussie driver into Lando Norris' car, and ending both McLaren drivers' races. Hulkenberg was on the inside of the corner, as Piastri tried the switch back on Norris, leading to what looked to be a racing incident.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown levied the blame on Hulkenberg while talking to Sky Sports after the incident on Saturday. The 53-year-old claimed that the German driver "had no business there" on the track.
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However, Brown retracted the statement afterwards, explaining that he had reviewed the footage later and realized that his criticism of Hulkenberg was harsh. Now, Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley has also revealed that Brown has apologized personally to him and Hulkenberg after the Sprint on Saturday.
"Zak sent me an apology really quickly afterwards. He apologized personally to Nico," said Wheatley, via Motorsport.com.
"Look, this is a passionate sport, I love the passion. You've got two cars, you're fighting for a world championship, and two cars get taken out in the first corner. It's easy to think that it's somebody else's fault sometimes and you react with passion," he added.
The incident in the Sprint took out both McLarens as well as Fernando Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg, who had started in fourth, also suffered front wing damage and could only finish in 13th.
The 38-year-old made amends in the main race, finishing in P8 after having started from 11th. This was his first points finish since he secured his maiden career podium at the British GP in July.
Nico Hulkenberg delighted with points finish at the US GP
Nico Hulkenberg claimed that he was "happy" after a clean race at the US GP saw him grab P8 on Sunday. The German driver also added that the incident between Carlos Sainz and Kimi Antonelli meant that he was able to finish higher than what was otherwise possible.
Speaking to the media after the race, Hulkenberg said, via Formula1.com:
"It was a tough day on Saturday, kind of a low blow with that Turn 1 incident. That was disappointing. So we were determined to bounce back in the race.
"Obviously, we had a bit of help from Carlos to get a little bit more than 10th, but we had good race pace. I think it was a clean race, clean execution, so I’m happy after all."
Hulkenberg also admitted that being competitive in Austin came as somewhat of a surprise to him and the Sauber team. Thanks to that experience, the veteran also explained that he has no idea what is coming for him in Mexico in a week.
