Ricciardo Apologizes After Hulkenberg Clash, Mid-Pack Chaos Mars Italian GP for RB Team

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the incident with Haas during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix

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

Red Bull driver Ricciardo clashed with Hulkenberg during a midfield battle on the first lap of Sunday's race at Monza, specifically at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed there was enough room, but then experienced a collision – which resulted in Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed off the track, allowing Kevin Magnussen, his teammate, to overtake.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty for the incident, but later had to endure a 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics touched his car during the initial penalty period at his pitstop.

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

“In the end, we were too slow today, even disregarding the penalties,” he stated.

"We gave it a shot, and I was having fun with the close racing 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 between us. However, I felt the contact, which means I hadn't left him sufficient room. I apologised for that."

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

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

"From my perspective, I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda 'frustrated' after race

According to Laurent Mekies from RB, the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Nico Hulkenberg. A crash involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda resulted in the Japanese driver's race coming to an early end.

Yuki Tsunoda expressed his frustration, lamenting that his race effectively ended just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico.

"I made an effort to give him plenty of room, but it looked like he froze up, lost control, and ended up colliding with me."

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

“Right away, I knew something was wrong. I attempted to keep going, but the car was slipping, and I just couldn’t control it.”

"We're heading to Baku and Singapore next, where our car is expected to do well, so we're optimistic about having successful weekends coming up."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it caused him to lose important time on the track with the upgraded RB car that was introduced at Monza.

He stated that today’s race was largely influenced by Hulkenberg. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing Hulkenberg off the track. Following that incident, Nico collided with Yuki, which ultimately led to us retiring the car.

"The most disappointing part about Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps that could have enhanced our knowledge of the new updates we implemented here."

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

"We need to reassess our processes in light of this situation and take lessons from today's error. Such incidents occur, but overall, our pit crew has performed outstandingly this season."

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