Damon Hill has a 4-word reaction to Zak Brown blaming Nico Hulkenberg for the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri double DNF

F1 legend Damon Hill has shared a 4-word reaction via Instagram to McLaren boss Zak Brown blaming Nico Hulkenberg for the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri incident on Lap 1 of the United States GP Sprint. The Briton indirectly claimed that Hulkenberg alone cannot be blamed for the Papaya double DNF in Austin.

The US GP Sprint made for the worst imaginable result for McLaren as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both crashed out on Lap 1, Turn 1, after colliding with each other. The incident was caused as Nico Hulkenberg collected Piastri, who inadvertently went into Norris to the right of him.

While the accident looked more like an unlucky racing incident for all involved, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown blamed Nico Hulkenberg while speaking to Sky Sports, claiming that the German driver had "no business being where he was."

Former F1 world champion has shared his reaction to these words by Brown, as he

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has shared his take on Brown’s comments on his Instagram story, with a popular idiom:

"Takes 5 to tangle"

Screen grab of Damon Hill's Instagram story [via Instagram/@96f1champ]

Chaos ensued during Turn 1 of the US GP Sprint as numerous drivers were involved in the aforementioned incident, with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and even Fernando Alonso unfortunately suffering race-ending damage to their respective cars.

The biggest winner, in the end, was definitely Max Verstappen, who not only won the Sprint but also gained eight points on both Piastri and Norris in the drivers' standings. The defending world champion's points gap to the current championship leader is now down to 55 points with six races and two sprints yet to come this season.

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri reflect on their US GP Sprint collision

Oscar Piastri collides into Lando Norris during the United States GP Sprint - Source: Getty

Lando Norris claimed that there was not much he could do to avoid the crash during the US GP Sprint, which led to a DNF for the Briton. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, explained that it was a "shame" that he ended up colliding with his teammate.

Speaking to the media after the sprint race on Saturday, Norris said, via Formula1.com:

“I mean, what was I meant to do in that, I just got hit. I did nothing wrong. Further back things happened, and I just got unlucky and I got hit because of it."

Norris also added that the incident occurred due to "careless" driving from some of the drivers behind him, as he and Piastri suffered the consequences of this. Meanwhile, Piastri shared his reaction, saying he simply got hit, which launched him into his teammate.

"I tried to cut back on Lando, I mean, we were both very far from the apex and then got a hit, and he obviously sent me into Lando, so [it’s] a shame," said Piastri.

Luckily for them, the McLaren drivers will now have the opportunity to save their weekend with the qualifying for the main race and the main event yet to come this weekend. The pressure is now truly on, with Max Verstappen well and truly into the championship battle.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam