Daniel Ricciardo stated that “lap 1 incidents are brutal” following his collision with Kevin Magnussen at the Sao Paulo GP.
Ricciardo hit the rear of Magnussen’s car on the opening lap of the race at Interlagos. The Haas driver spun and was collected by the Australian. As a result, both drivers were out of the race.
Ricciardo was given a three-place grid penalty for the Abu Dhabi GP and two penalty points for causing the collision.
“Lap 1 incidents are brutal for sure. I don’t think there is anything worse than a lap 1 incident because you obviously get so excited to go racing,” Ricciardo said.
“The start was solid, I had [Pierre] Gasly. I haven’t seen a replay yet, but what I remember was I had a decent run through [turns] six, seven and I remember cutting back to the inside for eight and I was kind of having a look but also just trying to brake with a little bit of clean air.
“I remember braking, I remember then Kevin protecting the line, so I was then just trying to pull back in line and I remember it bottling up a bit, and then obviously at the apex I gave him a little touch. To be honest, it didn’t feel like much, and then as soon as I saw him about to slide I was like ‘oh’, and then the second part, obviously that is when we made bigger contact.
“I don’t know… I could have braked harder or more or if it was just the way he squared up the corner or the angle, I don’t know. Also, I’m not here to say it’s his fault, my fault; of course, I mean if it’s my fault, of course, I’ll apologize.
“But it’s more just I’m sorry for both of us for not being in the race and sorry for our teams. That’s the part that hurts the most… and lap 1 incidents, they are certainly the worst.”
