Ricciardo Apologizes for Hulkenberg Collision: Drama Unfolds for RB at Italian GP

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

Daniel Ricciardo addresses the collision with Haas at the F1 Italian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that he apologized to Nico Hulkenberg after the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix due to a collision between them on the first lap.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was competing against Nico Hulkenberg in the midfield during the first lap of the Monza race on Sunday when they collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room but then experienced a collision. This incident pushed Hulkenberg's Haas onto the dirt, allowing his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, 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 his car during his initial pitstop penalty.

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

"In the end, our speed was lacking today, even if you don't consider the penalties," he stated.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was really having fun with the close racing early on, but I ended up touching Nico in Turn 8."

"After the race, I talked to him and explained that I believed we had enough space. However, I felt the collision and realized I hadn't given him sufficient room, so I apologized."

“It’s challenging because you put in a lot of effort, but even the tiniest differences can have a significant impact.

"The vehicle seemed fine afterward, and we gave it our all with the resources available. I aimed to extract the most performance from the car starting from Friday afternoon up until today."

"On a personal note, I feel much better this weekend, and we nearly earned some points."

Tsunoda 'disappointed'

According to team member Laurent Mekies, the Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull was influenced by Hulkenberg. A crash involving Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg 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 expressed.

"I attempted to give plenty of room, but it appears he froze up, resulting in him losing control and colliding with me."

"Regrettably, we were forced to withdraw the car due to 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."

"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 was frustrated with 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 can be said that Hulkenberg set the pace. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, which resulted in us having to retire the car," he stated.

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

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

"We must examine our protocols in this situation and take lessons from today's error. While such incidents do occur, our pit crew's performance has been outstanding overall this season."

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