Monza Mishaps: Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Clash as Penalties Plague RB’s Italian GP

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the collision 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 Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1.

During the first lap of Sunday’s race at Monza, Red Bull driver Ricciardo was competing with Hulkenberg in the midfield when they collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then experienced a collision – which resulted in 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 for the incident, but subsequently had to endure an additional 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics made contact with the car during the initial penalty at his pitstop.

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

"In the end, we just weren't fast enough today, even if you don't count the penalties," he commented.

"We made an effort, 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 talked to him and explained that I believed we had enough space. However, I felt the impact, which means I didn't leave him sufficient room. I apologized for that."

"It's challenging because you put in so much effort, but even the tiniest differences can be crucial."

"The car performed decently afterward, and we gave it our all with the resources available to us. From Friday afternoon until today, I did my best to extract the maximum potential from the vehicle."

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

Tsunoda felt "frustrated"

According to Laurent Mekies from RB, the Italian Grand Prix was influenced by Hulkenberg, as a crash involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race coming to an early end.

Yuki Tsunoda expressed his frustration, stating that his race was effectively over just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico.

"I made an effort to give him plenty of room, but it looked like he panicked, lost control, and collided with me."

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

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

"We have upcoming races in Baku and Singapore, and our car is expected to perform strongly at these tracks. We're optimistic about having successful weekends ahead."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it cost him important track time with the new RB car that was introduced at Monza.

"Regarding today's race, it could be said that Hulkenberg took control of events. 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 of Yuki's retirement is that it cost us 40 laps, which would have helped us better understand the new updates we implemented here."

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

"We must evaluate our procedures in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. Incidents like this occur, but overall, our pit crew has performed outstandingly this season."

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