Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash at Italian Grand Prix: A Day of Penalties and Frustrations for RB

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the collision with Haas during the F1 Italian Grand Prix

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

During the opening lap of Sunday's race at Monza, Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo clashed with Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 8 while they were competing in the midfield.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then he felt a collision – this caused Hulkenberg's Haas to be pushed onto the dirt, allowing Kevin Magnussen, his teammate, to overtake him.

The Australian 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 original pitstop punishment.

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

"In the end, we simply weren't fast enough today, even without considering the penalties," he stated.

"We gave it our best shot, 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 had a conversation with him. I believed there was enough space, but I realized we made contact, so I didn't leave sufficient room. I offered my apologies."

“It’s challenging because you give your all, but even the tiniest differences can matter.

"The car performed adequately afterward, and we gave it our all with the resources available. From Friday afternoon up until today, I was striving to extract the utmost potential from the vehicle."

"From my perspective, I am feeling significantly improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda Expresses Disappointment

Red Bull's performance at the Italian Grand Prix was significantly influenced by Hulkenberg, as stated by team member Laurent Mekies. A crash involving Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda led to the premature conclusion of the Japanese driver's race.

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

"I attempted to give him plenty of room, but it looks like he froze up, lost control, and collided with me."

"Regrettably, we had to pull the car out of 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, where our car is expected to excel, so we're optimistic about having successful weekends coming up."

Mekies was upset about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important laps in the upgraded RB car that was taken to Monza.

"Regarding today's race, it can be said that Hulkenberg set the tone. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Following that, Nico collided with Yuki, which ultimately caused us to retire the car," he explained.

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

"Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty because the initial one wasn't carried out properly."

"We must re-examine our processes in this situation and take lessons from today's error. Such incidents occur, but overall, our pit crew's performance has been outstanding this season."

Explore More

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Website Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

No part of this text, including photographs and illustrations, may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner.