“I obviously have to be accountable for that,” Daniel Ricciardo reflects upon his incident with Carlos Sainz at the Imola GP

Daniel Ricciardo

After a disappointing qualifying session for Carlos Sainz, his weekend went from bad to worse as he retired early on after colliding with Daniel Ricciardo. Carlos Sainz crashed in the Q2, which led him to starting at the 10th position on the grid for the sprint race. Although he managed to put up a good performance in the sprint race where he gained 6 positions and locked the 4th position on the grid for Sunday, his race wasn’t even a lap long.

On the first lap of the race, Daniel Ricciardo crashed into Carlos Sainz, which resulted in Sainz going into the gravel. Sainz’s weekend was over without a point on Sunday. Although Daniel Ricciardo felt that he was pushed into Carlos by Valtteri Bottas but after seeing the clips he realised it was completely his fault.

One might feel that it is just the start of the season and there is a lot of time left but these points are too valuable and crucial. Before the weekend started at Imola, Carlos Sainz was 3rd in the drivers championship standings but now he finds himself at 5th. Even for Ricciardo, he would’ve loved to gain many points as he is at only 11 points while his teammate Lando Norris is now at 35 points. That crash cost Ferrari and McLaren a huge ton of points and they would surely be devastated.

FS Video

Also Read : “He doesn’t need to hear it from anyone,” Max Verstappen on Charles Leclerc’s costly error in Imola

Daniel Ricciardo apologised to Carlos Sainz

In a post race interview, Daniel Ricciardo said, “As soon as I hit him, I saw him spinning and it was not fun. It ruined my race but also his. I obviously have to be accountable for that. I don’t think it was something where I was all locked up and ploughed into him,” as per gpfans.

Ricciardo added, “You say I could have been more cautious but as soon as you are that person, someone else is going to be doing that to you or be on your inside. By being too conservative sometimes you can put yourselves in danger.”

We go again in 2 week’s time and this time in Miami. Hopefully this time is utilised by all the teams to ensure upgrades are being made and especially for Ferrari and Carlos Sainz as he would be looking forward to making a comeback after two back to back retirements.

Also Read : Max Verstappen ‘honored’ to be crowned Laureus World Sportsman of the Year 2022