Daniel Ricciardo Apologizes to Nico Hulkenberg After Lap-One Clash at F1 Italian Grand Prix; Tsunoda’s Race Ended by Incident

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

Daniel Ricciardo comments on collision with Haas at the F1 Italian Grand Prix

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

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

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room but then experienced a collision, which resulted in Hulkenberg's Haas getting pushed onto the dirt and losing a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

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 made contact with his car during the initial penalty at the pitstop.

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

"In the end, we just weren't fast enough today, penalties aside," he stated.

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

"After the race, I talked to him and admitted that I believed we had enough space. However, I felt the collision and realized I didn't leave sufficient room, so I apologized."

"It's challenging because you push yourself to the limit, and even the tiniest details can have a big impact."

"The car performed adequately afterwards, and we exerted maximum effort with the available resources. I aimed to extract the utmost potential from the car starting from Friday afternoon up until today."

"I personally feel much improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda Departs Feeling 'Frustrated'

The Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull was significantly influenced by Nico Hulkenberg, as stated by team member Laurent Mekies. A crash involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda resulted in the Japanese driver being forced to retire from the race.

"I’m quite disappointed; it's unfortunate that my race ended just 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, lost control, and collided with me."

“Regrettably, we had to withdraw the car from 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. Our car is expected to do well at these locations, so we’re optimistic about having successful weekends coming up.”

Mekies is frustrated about the Tsunoda incident because it cost him crucial time on the track with the upgraded RB car that was brought to Monza.

"Regarding today's race, it can be stated that Hulkenberg took the lead. 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 explained.

"The most disappointing part of Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps that could have helped us learn more about the new updates we implemented."

"Daniel received an additional 10-second penalty because the initial penalty wasn't applied properly."

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

Explore Further

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to reproduce the text, photos, or illustrations in whole or in part in any manner.