“No hard feelings with Danaiel Ricciardo”, Carlos Sainz admits | 2022 Imola GP. Carlos on his incident with Daniel.

Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz admitted that he held no grudge against McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo after the 2022 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, despite the fact that the Australian driver was at fault for ruining his race at the start.

The Ferrari driver was the unlucky victim of a mistake made by the McLaren driver who drifted into the side of the the Spaniard’s F1-75 car in the middle of Tamburello, sending Carlos Sainz into a spin and into the gravel trap where sadly his race ended at the Imola circuit.

The crash, that capped Carlos Sainz’s already difficult Italian weekend, represents another retirement for the Spanish driver, who two weeks ago also ended the race after one lap, at the Albert Park circuit in Australia.

“The first thing that he did was come to the Ferrari box to apologise to me,” Carlos Sainz told reporters after the Emilia Romagna GP at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari – “The mechanics were all with me and we all thanked him for the gesture. That’s why there’s no hard feelings with Daniel. What happened with him could have happened to anyone out there today but unfortunately it had to happen to me. It’s how it is. The incident has really no mystery to it. What happened is very clear to everyone.” – he added.

Daniel Ricciardo was quick to admit his blame for the incident, explaining that his contact with the inside kerb at Tamburello in addition to the tricky conditions had caused him to slam into the Ferrari.

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“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,” he explained – “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. 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.” – Scuderia Ferrari Spanish driver Carlos Sainz.