Daniel Ricciardo has apologised to Carlos Sainz for the first-lap incident at Imola that ended up ruining both drivers' races. The pair made contact negotiating the Tamburello chicane on the opening lap, in what was deemed a racing incident by the stewards. With Ricciardo on the inside for the left-hand portion of the chicane, he made contact with the rear-left wheel of the Ferrari – this spun Sainz around into the gravel and out of the race. Ricciardo was able to continue and pitted for repairs at the end of the opening lap. After the race, Ricciardo headed off to the Ferrari quarters to apologise to Sainz and the team, and then explained to media that he had lost some control going over the kerb at the chicane.
Ricciardo heads to Ferrari to apologise
"I remember as soon as I got on it, I just started sliding right off," Ricciardo told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I was just sliding up and then obviously, at some point, Carlos has to turn left to then make the right. We just came in and obviously, I collected his rear. As soon as I hit him, I saw him spinning and it's 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 just kind of ploughed into him – it was tricky conditions. "I'll watch the onboard now and see if there's something I could have done, or if it was literally just that slippery. "I'll go see Carlos and apologise. An apology doesn't change anything but, at least for now, that's all I can do."
Sainz graciously accepts the apology
While Sainz might have felt particularly frustrated by the incident, having retired from two consecutive races in the early stages, the Spaniard said he fully accepted the apology from Ricciardo. "Yeah, absolutely," he told media, when asked whether the McLaren driver had popped his head in to say sorry for the clash. "It also praises Daniel as an athlete and as a sportsman. "Immediately after the race, you could see he had a tough one, but the first thing that he did was come to the Ferrari box and apologise to me. There were [all the] mechanics with me and we all thanked him for the gesture. "That's why there are no hard feelings with Daniel. What happened to him, it could happen to anyone out there today. But, unfortunately, it had to happen to me."
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