Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Clash at Italian GP; Tsunoda’s Frustration with Haas Incident

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

Daniel Ricciardo comments on clash with Haas during the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1

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

Red Bull's Ricciardo was competing against Hulkenberg in the middle of the field 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, which resulted in Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed onto the dirt, allowing his teammate Kevin Magnussen to overtake.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty for the incident but was later required to serve an additional 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics made contact with his car during the initial penalty at his pitstop.

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

"In the end, our speed wasn't sufficient today, even aside from 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 touching Nico at Turn 8.”

"After the race, I talked to him and explained that I believed there was enough space between us. However, I felt the collision, indicating I hadn't left sufficient room. I offered my apologies."

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

"The car performed satisfactorily afterward, and we gave it our all with the resources available. From Friday afternoon until today, I was focused on extracting the best possible performance from the vehicle."

"In my opinion, I feel much improved this weekend, and we were nearly able to earn some points."

Tsunoda felt 'frustrated'

According to team member Laurent Mekies, the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg. A crash involving the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race coming to an early end.

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

"I attempted to give him plenty of room, but it appeared that he froze, lost control, and collided with me."

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

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

"Upcoming races in Baku and Singapore should suit our car, so we’re optimistic about having successful weekends there."

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

"Regarding today's race, it could be said that Hulkenberg 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 stated.

The most exasperating part about Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps, which would have enhanced our knowledge of the new updates we implemented here.

"Daniel was given an additional 10-second penalty due to the improper execution of the initial penalty."

"We must evaluate our procedures 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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