Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash at Italian GP as RB Team Faces Penalty Woes

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the incident involving Haas during the F1 Italian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he apologized to Nico Hulkenberg after they collided during the first lap of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Ricciardo found himself in a tussle with Hulkenberg in the middle of the field during the first lap of the Monza race on Sunday, leading to a collision at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then he felt a collision. This incident pushed Hulkenberg's Haas car onto the dirt, causing him to lose a position to his teammate Kevin Magnussen.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty for the incident. However, he was later required to serve a 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics made contact with his car while he was serving the initial penalty during his pit stop.

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

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

"We gave it a shot, and I was having fun battling side by side in the beginning, but I collided with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I talked to him and mentioned that I believed there was enough space. However, I felt the collision and realized I hadn't given him sufficient room. I apologized for that."

"It's challenging because you compete intensely, but even the tiniest differences can have a big impact."

"The car seemed alright afterward, and we gave it everything we had. From Friday afternoon until today, I was aiming to extract the most performance possible from the vehicle."

“I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points.”

Tsunoda felt 'frustrated'

Red Bull's performance at the Italian Grand Prix was influenced by Hulkenberg, as stated by team member Laurent Mekies, after an incident involving Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg led to Yuki Tsunoda's race coming to an early end.

"I'm quite upset; it's unfortunate that my race ended just a few laps in after a collision with Nico," Tsunoda remarked.

"I attempted to maintain plenty of distance, but it appeared he froze up, leading to a loss of control and a collision with my vehicle."

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

“I sensed it immediately and attempted to carry on, but the vehicle was skidding and I just couldn’t control it.”

"Up next are the races in Baku and Singapore, where our car is expected to perform strongly. We're optimistic about having successful weekends at both events."

Mekies is frustrated about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important track time with the newly updated RB car at Monza.

"Today's race seemed to be controlled by Hulkenberg. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track, and then Nico collided with Yuki, which resulted in us having to retire the car," he stated.

"The most aggravating part of 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 location."

"Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty as the initial one was not properly enforced."

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

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