Ricciardo Apologizes to Hulkenberg After Lap-One Clash at the Italian GP: Penalties and Pitstop Woes Mar RB’s Race

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

Daniel Ricciardo comments on the encounter with Haas during the Formula 1 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.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg found themselves competing in the midfield during the first lap of Sunday’s race at Monza. The two drivers collided at Turn 8.

Ricciardo mentioned that he believed he had enough room, but then he felt a collision. This caused Hulkenberg's Haas to be pushed onto the dirt, allowing Kevin Magnussen, his teammate, to overtake him.

The Australian driver received a five-second time penalty for the incident, but later had to serve an additional 10-second penalty because one of his mechanics touched his car during the initial penalty at the pitstop.

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

“In the end, we didn’t have the speed we needed today, even without the penalties,” he commented.

"We gave it our best shot, and I was really 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, but I felt the impact, so I didn't leave sufficient room. I apologized for that."

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

"The car performed reasonably well afterwards, and we gave it our all with the resources available to us. From Friday afternoon until today, I aimed to extract the best possible performance from the vehicle."

"From my perspective, I’m feeling much improved this weekend, and we were nearly able to earn some points."

Tsunoda felt 'frustrated'

RB's Italian Grand Prix was "controlled by Hulkenberg," stated team member Laurent Mekies, after an incident between Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda led to the Japanese driver's race ending prematurely.

Yuki Tsunoda expressed his frustration, stating it was unfortunate that his race effectively ended just a few laps in because of a collision with Nico.

"I made an effort to give plenty of room, but it looked like he froze, lost control, and collided with me."

"Regrettably, we had to withdraw the car from the race due to damage sustained to its floor."

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

"Up next, we have races in Baku and Singapore. Our vehicle is expected to do well on those tracks, so we’re optimistic about having successful weekends."

Mekies' annoyance over the Tsunoda incident arises from the loss of crucial track time with the upgraded RB car that was brought to Monza.

"Regarding today's race, it could be said that Hulkenberg controlled the pace. Daniel received a five-second penalty after 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 about Yuki retiring from the race is that we missed out on 40 laps, which would have helped us better understand the new updates we implemented here."

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

"We need to examine our processes in this situation and take lessons from the error made today. Although such incidents occur, our pit crew's performance has typically been outstanding this season."

Discover More

Recent Updates

Recent Updates

Site Map

Crash.Net

©1999-2024 Crash Media Group

It is prohibited to reproduce the text, photos, or illustrations, whether in whole or in part, in any manner.