Daniel Ricciardo-Carlos Sainz collision - whose fault was it?

Daniel Ricciardo took the blame for ending Carlos Sainz’s race at the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and vowed to apologise.
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari’s Sainz made contact with McLaren driver Ricciardo on the first lap before spinning, finding himself stuck in the gravel and having his race prematurely brought to a halt.

"I originally thought I'd got hit into Carlos, but I think it was originally me getting into him and then I got a bit more help after," Ricciardo said.

"From memory, so you know Turn 1 is going to bottle up, and I think I got onto the kerb, tried to give myself a little bit more space.

"But I remember as soon as I got on it I just started sliding right off it, and I was just sliding up, up and then at some point Carlos has to turn left to then make the right and we just came in and obviously I collected his rear.

Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari F1-75. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Imola, Italy, Race
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari F1-75. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4,…

"As soon as I hit him, I saw him spinning, and I was just like ah, yeah, it's not fun. So obviously 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, so obviously 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 that I don't know, there was maybe not much more [I could do].

"In your head, you say like 'I could have been more cautious, gone a bit slower'.

"But as soon as you're that person, then someone else is going to be doing that to you or being on your inside.

"By being too conservative sometimes you can put yourself in more danger, by putting yourself in a sandwich or something, so it's tough.

"But I'll watch the onboard and go and see Carlos and apologise. An apology doesn't change anything, but at least for now that's all I can do."

Ricciardo finished the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 18th.

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) McLaren in qualifying parc ferme. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 4, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix,
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) McLaren in qualifying parc ferme. Formula 1 World…

Sainz reflected on crashing out to Sky Sports: "For some reason Daniel went into the kerb, left him plenty of space, but I think he must have lost the front of the car and bumped into me with the unlucky situation that I got stuck yet again in the gravel.

"It's definitely a tough moment and obviously I wanted to do a good race here in front of our fans.

"There was still 63 laps ahead so to get bumped out of the race in Turn 2 it is bad.

"But there is always these tough moments in the life of a sportsman, and it is my turn to go through them [now]. As long as I keep working hard, I'm sure the good moments will come."

Sainz’s incident was the first part of a nightmare homecoming for Ferrari to Italy.

Charles Leclerc spun in the latter stages and saw F1 title rival Max Verstappen win the race.

Charles Leclerc on ceding ground in F1 title fight

Leclerc bemoaned his catastrophic spin and said it “shouldn’t have happened” after a frustrating F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday.

Leclerc said to Sky Sports: “Whatever happened before the spin are just details. The spin shouldn’t have happened today. 

“I had P3 but I was too greedy. I paid the price for it and lost seven potential points. 

“Seven points would be valuable at the end of the championship.”

Leclerc said about Ferrari’s tussle with Red Bull: "It is very, very close and I think it will be that way for the rest of the season.

"And that is why every small mistake... well it's a big mistake... but the consequence considering the mistake could have been much bigger.

"It's only seven points today and it could cost more the next time so I need to be careful of that."

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