Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly discussed their incident at the F1 Qatar GP that could have massive implications on the Drivers’ Championship come the end of next Sunday.
In the early laps, Nico Hülkenberg was quick. He passed Charles Leclerc at the start of lap 2 for P10. On the softs, he closed in on Pierre Gasly.
As the Sauber and Alpine went side-by-side into turn 1 on lap 7, sizeable contact was made between the pair. The German was out on the spot, while the French driver carried on with damage after pitting to replace a puncture.
The stewards took no further action.
Nico Hülkenberg on the contact with Pierre Gasly during the F1 Qatar GP
Speaking to F1TV about the collision, the Sauber veteran explained he tried to go around the outside but got hit by the 1-time race winner.
“Just tried to overtake him around the outside but eventually got hit and that was the end.”
The 2025 British GP podium finisher says it’ll take a bit of time to get over yesterday before focusing on Abu Dhabi this weekend. On a positive note, he felt like he had strong pace before the crash.
“Don’t look forward to next week yet, still only disappointment for now, we turn the page tomorrow or the day after for Abu Dhabi.
“But no, I think our race pace would have been quite good and strong today, I felt really good with the car in those first seven laps and yesterday too, so there was good potential, so it’s very frustrating to come away with nothing and just in shambles.
“But yeah, we’ll reset, regroup and then go again in a few days.”
Pierre Gasly does not back down after incident with Nico Hülkenberg in the F1 Qatar GP
Talking in the print media pen about his collision with Hülkenberg, Pierre Gasly explained he felt it was hard racing.
As the German attempted to go around the outside, the Alpine man got some understeer, meaning contact was made between the right rear of car 27 and the left front of car 10.
The 2020 Italian GP winner believes both drivers could have done a better job to prevent the incident that cost them both a big shot at small points.
“Hard racing.
“I’m not here to make it easy for anyone. I’m fighting for every single point on track.
“I think when you go on the outside, it’s going to be risky. I’m never going to make it easy for the guy trying to get past me on the outside.
“I think he could have done a better job, I could have done a better job. He didn’t give up, I didn’t give up. We touched and ended his race, ended my race.
“I’m sure he would have liked a different outcome from today. I would have surely liked a different outcome.
“But at the end of the day, we’re racers. Just a shame.”
Gasly went on to explain that he picked up significant damage from the contact, meaning he had no chance to move forward when the race got going. He was classified P16 in the end.
“Following that incident, we destroyed the floor with the puncture. We were down a big chunk on downforce.”
