Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash at Monza: F1 Italian GP Marred by Penalties and Collisions

Daniel Ricciardo comments on his collision with Nico Hulkenberg: "I believed we had enough room; I said sorry."

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the situation with Haas during the F1 Italian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he offered an apology to Nico Hulkenberg after the first-lap crash involving both drivers during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was in a tussle with Nico Hulkenberg in the middle of the pack during the first lap of the Monza race on Sunday when the two collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then experienced an impact. This incident pushed Hulkenberg's Haas off the track, allowing his teammate Kevin Magnussen to overtake him.

The Australian driver initially received a five-second penalty for the incident. However, he was subsequently penalized with an additional 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 finished a difficult race at his home track for the Red Bull team in 13th place.

"At the end of the day, we just didn't have the speed we needed, penalties aside," he commented.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was having a great time racing side by side initially, 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 and realized I hadn't given him sufficient room, so I apologized."

"It's challenging because you put in a lot of effort, but even the tiniest differences can impact the outcome."

"The car performed satisfactorily afterward, and we pushed to the limit with the resources available to us. From Friday afternoon until today, I was striving to extract the utmost performance from the vehicle."

"From my perspective, I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we were nearly able to earn some points."

Tsunoda 'Disappointed'

Laurent Mekies from RB stated that the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg. 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 it was unfortunate his race ended just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico.

"I attempted to give as much room as I could, but it appeared he froze up, leading to him losing control and colliding with me."

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

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

"With Baku and Singapore coming up, our car is expected to do well, so we are optimistic about having successful weekends."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important track time with the newly updated RB car that was brought to Monza.

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

“The most disappointing part of Yuki’s retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps, which would have helped us better understand the new updates we implemented at this event.

"Daniel was handed an additional 10-second penalty due to an error in the implementation of the initial penalty."

“We must analyze our procedures in this situation and take lessons from today's error. Although such incidents occur, our pit crew has typically performed outstandingly this season.”

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