Ricciardo Apologizes to Hulkenberg After Italian GP Clash; RB Team Faces Challenges

Daniel Ricciardo addresses collision with Nico Hulkenberg: "I believed there was enough room; I've said sorry."

Daniel Ricciardo shares his thoughts on the Haas altercation at the F1 Italian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo has stated he offered an apology to Nico Hulkenberg for their first-lap incident during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

During the initial lap of Sunday's race at Monza, Red Bull's Ricciardo was competing closely with Hulkenberg in the middle group when they collided at the eighth corner.

Ricciardo believed he had enough room but experienced a collision, leading to Hulkenberg's Haas being pushed onto the gravel and subsequently losing a position to his teammate, Kevin Magnussen.

The individual from Australia received a penalty of five seconds for the incident, but subsequently, faced a harsher 10-second penalty when it was discovered that one of his team mechanics had made contact with his car during the time he was fulfilling his initial penalty at his pitstop.

Ricciardo concluded a challenging domestic event for the RB team, finishing in 13th place.

"In the end, we just didn't have the speed today, penalties aside," he stated.

"We gave it our best, and initially, I really liked the close racing. However, I ended up colliding with Nico at Turn 8."

"After the race, I had a conversation with him. I believed there was enough space between us, but after feeling the contact, I realized I hadn't allowed him sufficient space, and I offered my apologies."

"Competing fiercely, it's the tiniest details that can tip the balance."

"After the incident, the car seemed to be in good shape, and we gave it our all given the circumstances. From Friday afternoon right through to today, my goal was to extract every bit of performance possible from the vehicle."

"Personally, this weekend has been much better for me, and we were on the verge of earning points."

Tsunoda feels let down

According to team Laurent Mekies, RB's performance at the Italian GP was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg, following an incident where the Haas driver and Yuki Tsunoda collided, leading to the premature conclusion of Tsunoda's race.

Tsunoda expressed his dissatisfaction, lamenting that his race ended just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico.

"I made an effort to maintain ample distance, yet it appeared he froze, leading to a loss of control and colliding into me.

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

Right away, I noticed something was off and attempted to keep going, but the car was veering off course and I just couldn't manage to control it.

"Up next are Baku and Singapore, where our car is expected to excel, so we're looking forward to some promising weekends."

Mekies is upset about the Tsunoda incident because it resulted in the loss of crucial time on the track with the newly upgraded Red Bull car that was introduced at Monza.

"Regarding today's competition, it can be stated that Hulkenberg controlled the race. Daniel received a five-second penalty for pushing him off the track. Subsequently, Nico collided with Yuki, resulting in the decision to withdraw the car from the race," he mentioned.

The most disappointing element of Yuki's retirement is that we missed out on 40 laps, which would have enhanced our comprehension of the upgrades we implemented at this event.

Daniel was subsequently given an additional 10-second penalty due to the incorrect implementation of the first one.

"In this situation, it's essential for us to evaluate our protocols and take lessons from the error that occurred today. Such incidents do occur, yet overall, our pit crew's performance has been outstanding throughout the season."

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