The Italian Grand Prix at Monza delivered a weekend full of excitement, wheel-to-wheel battles, and valuable lessons for Red Bull Racing. The team faced a challenging race marked by penalties and retirements, but the drivers and team principal Laurent Mekies remain optimistic about the lessons learned and the road ahead.
Daniel Ricciardo Reflects on a Tough Race
“We tried, and I was enjoying the wheel-to-wheel racing at the start, but I made contact with Nico [Hulkenberg] in Turn 8,” Ricciardo said. “I spoke to him after the race. I thought we had space, but I felt the contact and realized I didn’t give him enough room, so I apologized. Racing is tough, and the smallest margins make a difference. The car felt okay after that, and we pushed as hard as we could with what we had. I was trying to get the maximum out of the car from Friday afternoon to today. Personally, I feel a lot better this weekend, and we were close to scoring points.”
Yuki Tsunoda Disappointed After Early Exit
Yuki Tsunoda’s race ended in frustration after a collision with Hulkenberg forced him to retire just a few laps in. “I’m pretty frustrated today; it’s a shame as my race finished shortly after the start due to contact with Nico,” Tsunoda said. “I tried to leave as much space as possible, but it seemed he locked up, causing him to lose control and crash into me. We had to retire the car because of damage to the floor. I felt it straight away, and the car was sliding around, making it impossible to drive. We have Baku and Singapore next, where our car should perform better, so I’m hopeful for good weekends ahead.”
Team Principal Laurent Mekies: Learning from Monza
Team Principal Laurent Mekies acknowledged the challenges faced but also highlighted the positives from a thrilling race weekend. “First of all, what a brilliant advert this weekend has been for Formula 1, with a packed crowd at an updated Monza circuit. Our congratulations go to Ferrari and Charles Leclerc for a great drive,” Mekies stated.
Reflecting on Red Bull’s performance, Mekies added, “Today’s race was heavily influenced by Hulkenberg, with Daniel receiving a 5-second penalty for forcing him off the track before Nico collided with Yuki, leading to our early retirement. The most frustrating aspect of Yuki’s retirement is losing 40 laps that would have significantly boosted our understanding of the updates we introduced here. Daniel also received a further 10-second penalty due to a procedural error with the first one. We need to review our processes and learn from today’s mistakes, but generally, our pit crew has been exceptional this season.”
Looking ahead, Mekies shared insights into the team’s development strategy: “We’ll stay in Monza for a Pirelli tyre test on Wednesday and use the next few days to analyze our performance, particularly focusing on the new update package. Originally set for Azerbaijan, we managed to bring one set of parts here thanks to a big push at the factory, and we chose to run them with Yuki. We cannot deny that, even without the penalties, it would have been difficult for Daniel to finish in the points. A performance step is crucial to return to the front of the midfield, and our focus is now on data analysis before heading to Baku.”
Despite a tough weekend, Red Bull Racing remains committed to learning from the challenges faced at Monza and is optimistic about bouncing back stronger in the upcoming races.
