Daniel Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Collision Amid Penalty-Laden Italian GP; RB Team Frustrations Mount

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the incident involving Haas at the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he apologized to Nico Hulkenberg after the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix due to a collision between them on the first lap.

During the initial lap of Sunday's race at Monza, Red Bull driver Ricciardo was contending with Hulkenberg in the middle of the pack when they collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then he felt an impact – as Hulkenberg's Haas was pushed onto the dirt, allowing Kevin Magnussen, his teammate, to overtake him.

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

Ricciardo concluded a difficult home race for the Red Bull team by finishing in 13th place.

“In the end, we didn’t have the speed today, even without considering the penalties,” he stated.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was having fun racing side by side at the beginning, but then I collided with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I had a conversation with him. I initially believed there was enough space, but then I felt the collision, so I realized I hadn't allowed 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 significant impact."

"The car seemed fine afterwards, and we gave it our all with the resources available. I aimed to extract the most performance from the car starting Friday afternoon up until today."

"I personally feel much improved this weekend, and we were nearly able to earn some points."

Tsunoda experiences 'frustration'

The Italian Grand Prix for RB was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg, stated team member Laurent Mekies, following an incident where Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg collided with Yuki Tsunoda, which eventually forced the Japanese racer out of the competition.

"I'm quite disappointed. It's unfortunate that my race ended just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico," Tsunoda expressed.

"I attempted to maintain a safe distance, but it appeared he froze, lost control, and collided with me."

"Regrettably, we were forced to withdraw the car because it sustained damage to the floor."

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

"We're heading to Baku and Singapore next, where our car is expected to perform strongly. We're optimistic about having successful weekends at these events."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important track time with the newly upgraded RB car at 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 this, Nico collided with Yuki, which resulted in us having to retire the car," he explained.

"The most disappointing part about Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps that could have enhanced our knowledge of the new updates we implemented at this event."

"Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty due to improper execution of the initial one."

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

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