Daniel Ricciardo Apologizes to Nico Hulkenberg After Costly Clash at F1 Italian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo discusses incident with Nico Hulkenberg: “I believed there was enough room; I said sorry”

Daniel Ricciardo comments on the clash with Haas during the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he offered an apology to Nico Hulkenberg after the two drivers collided on the first lap of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was competing with Nico Hulkenberg in the middle of the field during the first lap of the Monza race on Sunday when they collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed there was enough room, but experienced a collision, which caused Hulkenberg's Haas to be pushed onto the dirt and lose a position to his teammate Kevin Magnussen.

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

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

“In the end, our speed just wasn’t up to par today, even setting aside the penalties,” he remarked.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was really enjoying the close racing at the beginning, but I ended up colliding with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I talked to him and explained that I believed we had enough space, but I felt the contact, which meant I hadn't given him sufficient room. I apologized for that."

"It’s challenging because you give it your all, but even the tiniest differences can have a big impact."

"The car performed adequately afterward, and we exerted maximum effort with the resources available. From Friday afternoon until today, I aimed to extract the utmost performance from the vehicle."

"From my perspective, I am feeling significantly improved this weekend, and we came very near to earning points."

Tsunoda Feels 'Frustrated'

Laurent Mekies from Red Bull Racing stated that their performance at the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Nico Hulkenberg. A crash involving Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race coming to an early end.

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

"I attempted to give him plenty of room, but it appeared he froze up, lost control, and ended up colliding with me."

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

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

"Up next are Baku and Singapore, where our vehicle is expected to excel. We're optimistic about having successful weekends there."

Mekies is frustrated about the Tsunoda incident because it cost him crucial time on the track with the newly updated RB car at Monza.

"Regarding today's race, Hulkenberg seemed to set the pace. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, which resulted in us having to retire the car," he stated.

"The most disappointing part about Yuki retiring is that we missed out on 40 laps that could have given us more insight into the new updates we brought in."

“Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty because we failed to properly implement the initial one.

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

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