McLaren Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo said that he did not intentionally collide with Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz when the two battled for fifth place in the 2021 United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas last weekend.
After Carlos and Ricciardo banged wheels at turn 13, the Spanish driver informed his team “that got a bit dirty” on the radio. “He did that on purpose, guys,” he added, while Daniel Ricciardo said his race engineer Tom Stallard advised him Carlos Sainz had “some endplate damage” following their contact. “I guess that was from us touching unless he took a kerb somewhere. But I think my car was okay. Obviously you don’t deliberately try to go into someone. But that’s a bit of ‘rubbing racing’. When you put yourself on the outside, obviously you’re a little bit more exposed,” he explained. “So nothing was deliberate but I guess it’s the risk he ran by trying the outside.”
The McLaren driver made light of Carlos Sainz’s criticism on his radio. “That’s cool, I’m happy to be dirty,” he said. “I’m a nice guy, so being dirty every now and then is alright.”
Carlos Sainz confirmed that his team radio message at that moment had partly been an emotional reaction: “He was in his right to do what he did, just the little contact that he gave me I think was avoidable and that’s what triggered my reaction on the radio when we are in a emotional situation. Otherwise it was a good fun battle.” – Carlos explained.
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Yet he feels Ricciardo’s move was “in the limit of the legality” after the pair touched. Obviously he’s in the inside, I’m in the outside, I have everything to lose being in the outside. But normally the car who is on the inside, you’re always trying to run the car out of road.”
Carlos Sainz admitted he “would have done exactly the same” in Ricciardo’s position. “Obviously, I wouldn’t have tried to have contact like we had in the end, but the guy in the inside has the right to run the car on the outside out of the road.”
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