Zak Brown at the US Grand Prix's press conference - Photo: Race Pictures

Sauber sheds light on Browns apology after 'amateur hour' verdict

14:59, 23 Oct

Updated: 15:52, 23 Oct

byTobia Elia

Jonathan Wheatley revealed that he received an apology from Zak Brown following the McLaren boss’s heated reaction after both cars retired from the Austin sprint race.

"Zak sent me an apology really quickly afterwards. He apologized personally to Nico"

- Jonathan Wheatley

Speaking to GPblog after Sunday’s race, the former Red Bull sporting director said: "Zak sent me an apology really quickly afterwards. He apologized personally to Nico."

He then added: "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 at the first corner. And it's easy to think that it's somebody else's fault sometimes and you react with passion."

"(It's) the heat of the moment and the emotion. I've known Zak a really long time, he's a racer, we're all racers, and we sorted it out afterwards."

Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley - Photo: Race Pictures

Brown changes his mind on culprit after McLaren's double DNF

After an outstanding Sprint Qualifying session, Hulkenberg managed to put his Sauber as high as fourth on the grid — behind only Max Verstappen and the two McLarens. Everything pointed towards a strong race and a potential haul of valuable points for the German driver, but his Sprint quickly turned into a nightmare.

Hulkenberg not only ended up with a DNF, costing the Sauber team crucial points, but also found himself under scrutiny for having indirectly triggered the chain reaction that took both Piastri and Norris out of the race. That was at least the initial claim made by Zak Brown, who labelled Hülkenberg’s move as “amateur hour driving.”

Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle believes Oscar Piastri was predominantly to blame for the incident, as footage shows that it was the Aussie who turned in sharply, seemingly unaware that other cars could be alongside.

The clash was ultimately classified as a racing incident, but one that proved costly for both McLaren and Sauber.

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