**Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash: “I Thought We Had Space” – Penalties and Frustrations Mar Monza Race for RB**

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 at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he offered an apology to Nico Hulkenberg after the two drivers collided on 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 pack during the first lap of Sunday’s race at Monza, resulting in a collision at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then experienced a collision – causing Hulkenberg's Haas to be pushed onto the dirt and lose a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

An Australian driver received a five-second penalty for a specific incident but was subsequently required to serve a ten-second penalty because a mechanic mistakenly touched his car during the initial penalty at the pit stop.

Ricciardo finished a challenging race at his home track in 13th place for the Red Bull team.

"In the end, we simply didn't have the speed today, even if you disregard the penalties," he remarked.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was having fun with the close racing right from the beginning, but I ended up colliding with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I talked to him and realized that while I believed we had enough space, we ended up making contact. I didn't leave him sufficient room, so I apologized."

"It's challenging because you push yourself to the limit, but even the tiniest differences can be crucial."

"The vehicle performed adequately afterward, and we exerted maximum effort with the resources available. I aimed to extract the utmost performance from the car from Friday afternoon until today."

"I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we came close to earning points."

Tsunoda felt 'frustrated'

The Italian Grand Prix for RB was influenced by Hulkenberg, stated team member Laurent Mekies, as an incident involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race coming to an early end.

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

"I attempted to give as much room as I could, but it appeared he froze, lost control, and collided with me."

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

"I noticed it immediately and attempted to persevere, but the vehicle kept skidding and I just couldn't control it."

"We're heading to Baku and Singapore next, where our car is expected to do well. We're optimistic about having strong weekends at both events."

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

"Regarding today's race, it can be said that Hulkenberg set the pace. 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 remarked.

"The most disappointing part of Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps that could have helped us better understand the new updates we brought in."

“Daniel received an additional 10-second penalty because the initial penalty wasn’t properly served.

“We have to re-evaluate our procedures in this case and take lessons from the error made today. While such incidents do occur, our pit crew has largely performed outstandingly this season.”

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