Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Clash as Penalties Mar Italian GP for RB

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

Daniel Ricciardo responds to altercation with Haas during 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 and Hulkenberg were competing in the middle of the pack during the first lap of Sunday’s race at Monza when they collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then experienced a collision. This resulted in Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed onto the dirt, allowing Kevin Magnussen, his team-mate, to overtake him.

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

Ricciardo concluded a challenging race on home soil for the Red Bull team in 13th place.

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

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

"After the race, I had a conversation with him. I believed there was enough space, but we made contact, indicating I didn't leave sufficient room. I apologized for that."

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

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

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

Tsunoda's frustration

Laurent Mekies from Red Bull stated that the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Nico Hulkenberg. A crash involving Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda brought an early end to the Japanese driver's race.

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

"I attempted to give plenty of room, but it appeared he froze up, which led to him losing control and colliding with me."

"Regrettably, we had to pull the car out of the race due to damage sustained to the floor."

“I noticed it immediately and attempted to keep going, but the car was skidding and I just couldn’t control it.”

"We're heading to Baku and Singapore next, where our car is expected to perform strongly. We’re optimistic about having successful weekends at both locations."

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

"Regarding today’s race, it could be argued that Hulkenberg set the tone. Daniel received a five-second penalty for forcing Hulkenberg off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, which led to our decision to retire the car," he stated.

"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 due to improper execution of the initial one."

"We must reassess our processes in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. While such incidents occur, our pit crew's performance has largely been outstanding this season."

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