Lewis Hamilton might have won the race, but Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo has a strong claim to be crowned driver of the day in this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
Ricciardo’s race weekend was compromised when he suffered a turbo failure during qualifying on Saturday. It meant he started on the back row of the grid for the race. Even getting into the points was a big ask for the Australian.
He set about the task with gusto, but made an early mistake and went off at Woodcote after making up a dozen places. That dropped him to the back and he was forced to start his mission from scratch.
“I would suspect probably the floor had a bit of damage after that off,” Ricciardo told Sky Sports F1 after the race. “It was a bit bumpy. My tush got a little – yeah, dirty? Bruised?”
But after that he carved his way through the field and ended the race in an impressive fifth place. His final position was boosted with a pass on Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg in the penultimate lap, and by Sebastian Vettel’s tyre failure.
“One simply couldn’t have been higher than one was!” he said, tongue in cheek. “I think in the end it was the maximum, even without that [early off].
“Sure I would have finished a long way up in terms of race time, but I think I wouldn’t have got close to the other guys.
“Crazy race, went through the field and that was fun. Just had a battle the whole time so I enjoyed it a lot.”
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Ricciardo’s barnstorming recovery drive provided much entertainment, in a race where Hamilton’s win never seemed to be in doubt.
“Someone’s got to do it,” he quipped. “I don’t want the fans to – I know they’re super stoked Lewis won, but he obviously led from start to finish from what I understand.
“You gotta take a bit of TV time away from him and that’s all I was doing. Just trying to put myself in the spotlight!”
The amount of effort Ricciardo had put into the day’s race had left him in urgent need of sustenance.
“I don’t know what I’m talking about any more. I need sugar!” he said. “We’re going to Hungary, right now I’m hungry!
“Very excited. pretty exited, definitely. Just can’t wait, Budapest is a great track,” he added – before heading off in search of a much-needed energy bar.
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