Nico Hulkenberg crashes out of Qatar GP causing safety car as McLaren strategy comes under fire

Nico Hulkenberg has crashed out of the Qatar Grand Prix after a collision with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly on the seventh lap.

As the German driver attempted to pass Gasly around the outside at Turn 2, the pair made contact, sending Hulkenberg spinning through the gravel before he came to a stop.

Hulkenberg had started the race from 11th position on the grid and was running in 10th at the time of the crash. While speaking to the media following qualifying, the Sauber driver didn’t expect many overtakes during the race due to the lack of opportunities at the Losail International Circuit.

“No, I think it will make it very static,” he said. “We saw this morning, no tyre deg, very little racing action. The cornering speeds are a bit too fast. I mean, it’s really fun to drive in quali and, you know, very exciting, high speed, high G-forces, but it’s not the most, you know, racing-friendly circuit, let’s say.”

With the safety car deployed, race leader Oscar Piastri and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris stayed out but Max Verstappen, who was running in second at the time, decided to pit along with the remaining drivers.

“This has worked out horribly for McLaren. Those behind have pitted and they have not,” former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle said. He later added: “Stay tuned to this race, everybody. It feels to me as though McLaren have missed a trick!”

Drivers are limited to a maximum of 25 laps on a set of tyres during the Qatar Grand Prix.

“We should have just followed him in, no? If we knew the car ahead was staying out,” Norris asked his race engineer Will Joseph, who explained: “They have lost all flexibility for the remainder of the race.”

One reason why the Woking outfit may have decided not to pit either Piastri or Norris could be to avoid disadvantaging one over the other. A double stack would have put Norris at a disadvantage and pulling in one and not the other would have been a clear differentiation in strategy.

Photos from Qatar GP – Race