Daniel Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Clash: Italian GP Drama Unfolds for RB Team

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the collision with Nico Hulkenberg: "I believed there was enough room; I said sorry"

Daniel Ricciardo comments on the encounter with Haas during the Formula 1 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 Daniel Ricciardo was competing against Nico Hulkenberg in the middle of the pack during the first lap of the race at Monza on Sunday when the two collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned he believed he had enough room, but then experienced a collision – with Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed onto the dirt and losing a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty due to the incident, but subsequently had to serve a 10-second penalty because one of his crew members touched his car during the initial penalty at the pit stop.

Ricciardo concluded a challenging race on home soil for the Red Bull team, finishing in 13th place.

"In the end, our pace wasn't sufficient today, even discounting the penalties," he commented.

“We gave it a shot, and I was having fun with the close racing at the beginning, but I ended up colliding with Nico at Turn 8.

"After the race, I had a conversation with him. I initially believed we had enough space, but I felt the collision, 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 tiny differences can have a big impact."

"The car performed well, and we gave it our all with the resources available. From Friday afternoon until today, I was focused on extracting the best performance from the vehicle."

"From my perspective, I am feeling much improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda 'exasperated'

According to Laurent Mekies from Red Bull, the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg. A crash involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda led to Tsunoda's race coming to an abrupt end.

"I'm quite annoyed; it's unfortunate that my race ended only a few laps in because of a collision with Nico," Tsunoda remarked.

"I attempted to give him ample room, but it looked like he froze up, which led to him losing control and colliding with me."

"Regrettably, we had to withdraw the car from the race due to damage sustained to the floor."

“I noticed the issue immediately and attempted to keep going, but the vehicle was skidding, making it impossible for me to operate it.

"With Baku and Singapore coming up, our car is expected to perform strongly, so we are optimistic about having successful weekends ahead."

Mekies was frustrated about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important time on the track with the upgraded RB car that was brought to Monza.

"Regarding today's race, it could be said that Hulkenberg set the pace. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Following that, Nico collided with Yuki, which ultimately led to us withdrawing the car," he stated.

"The most disappointing part of Yuki's retirement is that it cost us 40 laps, which could have helped us better comprehend the new updates we implemented here."

"Daniel was subsequently given an additional 10-second penalty due to our incorrect implementation of the initial penalty."

"We must re-evaluate our protocols in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. Although incidents like this occur, our pit crew's performance has mostly been outstanding this season."

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