Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash, Faces Double Penalty at Italian GP; Tsunoda’s Frustration Adds to RB’s Troubles

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

Red Bull driver Ricciardo and Hulkenberg clashed in the middle of the field during the first lap of the Monza race on Sunday, specifically at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed there was enough room, but experienced a collision – resulting in Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed off the track and losing a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

An Australian driver received a five-second penalty for an incident, but later had to endure an additional 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics touched the car while he was serving the initial penalty during a pitstop.

Ricciardo finished a difficult race at his home track in 13th place for the RB team.

"In the end, we just didn't have enough speed 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 making contact with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I talked to him and explained that I believed we had enough space. However, I realized we made contact and acknowledged that I didn't leave sufficient room. I apologized to him."

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

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

"In my own opinion, I'm feeling much improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda was left feeling 'frustrated'

The Italian Grand Prix for RB was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg, stated team member Laurent Mekies. A crash involving Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda resulted in the Japanese racer's early exit from the race.

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

"I attempted to give him plenty of room, but it appeared he froze up, leading to a loss of control and a collision with me."

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

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

"Up next are Baku and Singapore, where our car is expected to excel. We're optimistic about having successful weekends at those events."

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

"Today's race was largely influenced by Hulkenberg's actions. 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 enhanced our knowledge of the new updates we implemented at this event."

“Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty as we failed to properly carry out the initial one."

"We need to assess our processes in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. Such incidents occur, but our pit crew's performance has mostly been outstanding this season."

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