Ricciardo Apologizes to Hulkenberg After Costly Italian GP Clash; Tsunoda’s Frustration Mounts

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

Daniel Ricciardo responds to the incident involving Haas at the F1 Italian Grand Prix

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

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

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but he experienced a collision – which resulted in Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed onto the dirt and losing a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

The Australian driver received a five-second penalty for the incident, but later had to serve a 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics made contact with his car during his initial penalty at the pit stop.

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

"In the end, our speed was lacking today, even without factoring in the penalties," he commented.

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

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

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

"The car seemed alright afterwards, and we gave it our all with the resources available. I aimed to extract the utmost performance from the vehicle from Friday afternoon up to this point."

“In my opinion, I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we were nearly able to earn some points.”

Tsunoda 'Exasperated'

RB’s performance at the Italian Grand Prix was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg, as per team member Laurent Mekies. A collision involving Haas driver 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 commented.

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

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

"I noticed it immediately and attempted to keep going, but the car was slipping and I just couldn't control it."

"The upcoming races in Baku and Singapore should suit our car's capabilities, so we're optimistic about having successful weekends."

Mekies is frustrated about the Tsunoda incident because it cost him important track time with the upgraded RB car that was introduced at Monza.

“Today’s race was largely controlled by Hulkenberg. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, which ultimately forced us to retire the car,” he explained.

"The most exasperating part of Yuki's retirement is that it cost us 40 laps, which would have helped us gain more insight into the new updates we implemented here."

"Daniel was subsequently handed an additional 10-second penalty since the initial one was not applied properly."

"We must reassess our protocols for this situation and take lessons from the error we made today. While incidents like this occur, our pit crew has largely performed outstandingly this season."

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