Daniel Ricciardo was worried F1 rival 'wanted to punch my face in' after Italian GP clash
Daniel Ricciardo has opened up about his unsuccessful Italian GP outing.
Daniel Ricciardo admitted he'd considered former team-mate Nico Hulkenberg might've wanted to ‘punch his face in’ after the pair collided during the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix last weekend.
Ricciardo was deemed the driver at fault by the stewards, with the Australian handed a five-second penalty for the coming together as a result.
The VCARB driver’s afternoon would get worse before it got better when another time penalty was handed out after his front jackman accidentally touched the car too soon.
A frustrating afternoon, which unsurprisingly saw Ricciardo finish outside the points in Monza.
Related articles
And during his post-race debrief, Ricciardo told GPblog: “Obviously, I didn't give him enough room, period. The least I can do is apologise. I was also curious about how bad was it. I knew I was in the wrong, but was it like something that he [Hulkenberg] wanted to punch my face in or was it something that he was just like, ‘Yeah, you misjudged it by 10 centimetres.”
The pair spent two years together during their time at Renault, with Ricciardo able to call on his existing friendship to help diffuse the situation.
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
He added: “I had struggled on first laps this year. Big picture, I don't think I'd really gain many positions at all on lap one. So up until that point, it was going okay, and whilst I think being a bit more aggressive, which I think I'd lacked, but then maybe I was having too much fun being aggressive and I got too aggressive. I joke about it, but obviously, I need to judge those things better.”
Overall, it’s been a disappointing season for Ricciardo so far, with the 35-year-old having managed just two top-10 finishes.
But despite the double penalty, Ricciardo believes missing out on the points in Monza was because, simply put, the car wasn’t quick enough.
Don't miss...
Daniel Ricciardo asks F1 rival 'was I being a p***k?' after Italian GP incident [QUOTES]
Christian Horner clashes with Marko over driver as Red Bull civil war rages on [READ]
Jacques Villeneuve backtracks on Ricciardo digs after VCARB star’s brutal retort [LATEST]
Commenting on his performance to the F1 website, he said: “I think ultimately, we weren’t quick enough, like even without the penalties. For sure we tried, but I don’t think we were quick enough – Kevin [Magnussen] passed me on the medium and then drove away on the hards, and I think he had a penalty as well from what I heard at the end. Yeah, we weren’t quite fast enough.”
Ricciardo and his VCARB team will get the chance to put that right in two weekends when the race leaves Europe for the Azerbaijan GP.
