### Daniel Ricciardo Apologizes After Clash with Nico Hulkenberg at the F1 Italian Grand Prix: “I Thought We Had Space

Daniel Ricciardo comments on altercation with Nico Hulkenberg: “I believed there was room; I said sorry”

Daniel Ricciardo responds to collision with Haas during the F1 Italian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he apologized to Nico Hulkenberg after they collided on the first lap of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Ricciardo was competing against Hulkenberg in the middle of the field during the first lap of Sunday's race at Monza when the two collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned he believed he had enough room, but then he experienced a collision. This incident forced Hulkenberg's Haas off the track, allowing Kevin Magnussen, Hulkenberg's teammate, to overtake him.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty for the incident. However, he later had to serve an additional 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics touched his car during the initial penalty at his pitstop.

Ricciardo concluded a difficult race at his home circuit for the Red Bull team, finishing in 13th place.

“We simply didn’t have the speed today, even setting aside the penalties,” he stated.

"We gave it a shot, and I was having fun racing side by side initially, but then I collided with Nico at Turn 8."

“After the race, I talked to him. I believed we had enough space, but I felt the contact, so I realized I hadn't given him sufficient room. I apologized for that.”

"It's challenging because you put in a lot of effort, but even the tiniest differences can have a big impact."

"The car seemed fine afterward, and we gave it our all with the resources at our disposal. From Friday afternoon until now, I have been striving to extract the best performance from the vehicle."

"I personally feel much better this weekend, and we came near to earning points."

Tsunoda Ends Race in Frustration

Laurent Mekies from RB stated that the Italian Grand Prix was largely influenced by Hulkenberg. A crash involving Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's early exit from the race.

"I'm quite upset; it's unfortunate that my race ended just a few laps after the beginning because of a collision with Nico," Tsunoda remarked.

"I attempted to maintain a significant gap, but it appeared he froze, resulting in him losing control and colliding with me."

"Regrettably, we had to pull the car out of the race due to damage sustained to its floor."

"I noticed it immediately and attempted to keep going, but the vehicle was skidding and I just couldn't control it."

"We're heading to Baku and Singapore next, where our car is expected to excel, so we're optimistic about having successful weekends."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it cost him important track time with the newly upgraded RB car that was brought to Monza.

"Today's race was largely influenced by Hulkenberg's actions. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, which led to us having to retire the car," he explained.

The most disappointing part of Yuki's retirement is missing out on 40 laps that could have provided valuable insights into the new updates we implemented here.

"Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty due to an error in carrying out the initial penalty."

"We must reassess our protocols in this situation and take lessons from today's error. While such incidents do occur, our pit crew's performance has been outstanding overall this season."

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