'Shouldn't happen': Daniel Ricciardo ripped over 'embarrassing' act

Daniel Ricciardo has been blasted by Carlos Sainz after the Aussie ended the Ferrari driver's race on the first lap of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Sainz saw his race end in the gravel after an opening lap collision with McLaren driver Ricciardo, who ended up apologising to his Spanish rival.

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Sainz's race only last two and a half corners after he was spun into the gravel by Ricciardo and left beached.

The safety car was quickly deployed as Sainz, spun around and facing Ricciardo, was forced to retire from the race.

“It was a difficult start as you saw,” Sainz said afterwards.

“But there were still 63 laps left, and even if you lose a position to a McLaren like Lando [Norris] or whatever, it’s still a long race to go, especially in these conditions.

“But unfortunately, I think I left plenty of space for Daniel on the inside but he decided to get on the kerb and understeer into me and that was it for my race.

"Very unlucky – nothing I could do differently there, but it is what it is.

“It's tough. I’m not happy, and it’s tough to go through it, especially in a home race like this, getting the support from fans, wanting to do a good race for them.

"Yes, as I said, the start wasn’t great; we will analyse why but it was still a long race ahead and for some reason, I was the unlucky guy that for someone’s mistake, I had to pay. It’s how it is.”

Ricciardo admitted his mistake after the race and was seen apologising to Sainz in the Ferrari garage.

“Obviously not the way I wanted Sunday to go,” said Ricciardo, who ended up finishing 18th.

“A painful one and obviously not the way I want to affect someone else’s race.

“From memory, I think I got onto the kerb just to try and buy myself a bit more space, because I know at some point it’s going to bottle up, but I think once I got on the kerb, I just slid off it and then started to slide up into him.

“Obviously intentions were, in a way, good to try and, let’s say, leave some room.

"But in those conditions obviously I didn’t have the grip I was hopeful for, slid up into him and ruined his race as well. Then we had damage and it was a painful 60 laps.

“I’ll go and see Carlos. I’m sure he was in [the media area] already, but go and see what I can do now to apologise and just try and move on for Miami.”

F1 pundit blasts Ricciardo over 'embarrassing' mistake

Sky Sports commentator Paul Di Resta said at the time: “It is more Daniel’s fault, just unfortunate where they are though.

“But I don’t think there’s much you can do about it. If they’re not allowed to do that, I think you’re not going to see close side-by-side racing.”

Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson labelled it an “embarrassing mistake" from Ricciardo.

“It’s a mistake that shouldn’t be happening at this kind of level and it’s a mistake that Carlos Sainz wasn’t expecting from someone usually as polished and as experienced as Daniel Ricciardo," he said.

“To end a Ferrari driver’s race on lap one, I’d be making a quick exit if I was him.

“I can tell by his body language he was embarrassed. It’s good that he went and apologised to Carlos. It shouldn’t be happening.”

Max Verstappen ended up taking maximum points from the sprint weekend, leading a Red Bull one-two on as Ferrari's homecoming turned sour for overall leader Charles Leclerc.

Sergio Perez finished 16.527 seconds behind Verstappen, while Lando Norris claimed McLaren's first podium of the season.

Championship leader Leclerc, winner of two of the first three races, finished sixth after a lape spin cost him a spot on the podium and slashed his championship lead to 27 points.

with agencies

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