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

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

Daniel Ricciardo responds to collision with Haas during the F1 Italian Grand Prix

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

During the first lap of Sunday’s race at Monza, Red Bull driver Ricciardo and Hulkenberg collided while vying for position mid-field at Turn 8.

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

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 made contact with his car during the initial penalty at his pit stop.

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

“In the end, we just didn’t have enough speed today, penalties aside,” he stated.

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

"After the race, I talked to him and mentioned that I believed there was enough space. However, I felt the impact, so I realized I hadn't given him sufficient room, and I apologized."

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

"The vehicle performed satisfactorily afterward, and we exerted maximum effort given our resources. I aimed to extract the utmost performance from the car starting from Friday afternoon up until today."

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

Tsunoda 'Disappointed'

Laurent Mekies of Red Bull stated that the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Nico Hulkenberg, as an incident between the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race coming to a premature end.

“I’m quite upset; it’s unfortunate that my race ended just a few laps in after colliding with Nico,” Tsunoda remarked.

"I attempted to maintain a wide berth, but it appeared he froze, 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 sensed it immediately and attempted to push on, but the vehicle kept skidding and I just couldn’t manage to drive it.

"Up next, we have races in Baku and Singapore. Our vehicle is expected to excel at these locations, so we are optimistic about having successful weekends."

Mekies' irritation over the Tsunoda incident arises because it cost him crucial track time with the new RB car that was introduced at Monza.

"In today's race, Hulkenberg seemed to set the pace. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Following that, 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 given us more insights into the new updates we brought to this event."

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

"We have to re-evaluate our processes in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. Such incidents occur, but overall, our pit crew's performance has been outstanding this season."

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