Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo’s thoughts of a podium finish at Monaco nearly disappeared when his tyres “felt like concrete’’ and he headed straight for the metal barriers towards the end of the race. But, fortunately Ricciardo was able to correct the slide so that he barrelled into the barrier flush with the side of the car and he didn’t suffer any serious damage. Ricciardo was then able to fend off fourth placed Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in the final laps to finish third for his second consecutive podium finish.
Sebastian Vettel won the prestigious race, scoring the first Ferrari victory in 16 years at Monaco, but the body language of his second placed team mate Kimi Raikkonen showed that not all was well at the Italian camp. Raikkonen was in pole position but was called in first to change tyres, similar to the call by Red Bull of Riccirdo’s teammate; the then fourth placed Max Verstappen.
While Raikkonen and Verstappen were in the pits, both Vettel and Ricciardo enjoyed clear air and were able to record some of the fastest laps of the race and they picked up a big enough gap to keep ahead of their teammates after their own later pit stops.
Cheering Ricciardo on were Serena Williams and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho – both of whom met Ricciardo before the race. All the while Ricciardo was well clear of the carnage taking place behind him but when the racing resumed he found his tyres were too cold and were difficult to control.
“I was same trying to do burn-outs, to scrub the front tyres, and keep them going but they turned to concert blocks,” Ricciardo said of that crucial time in the race, “We were all dreading the restart (after the safety car). I saw it as potential opportunity but also a potential risk, going into turn one, as soon as I turned in the wall got closer until I hit it, I hit it flush so I limited the damage but it was not fun.’’
Ricciardo started the notoriously difficult tight and twisting Cote d’Azur circuit from fifth position after an error by his support crew sent him out amidst traffic in final qualifying race on Saturday. He said: “I am happy today for sure. Yesterday (in qualifying) I felt I had so much more to offer and it was a shame not to show my potential, but when Max and Valtteri pitted I had the track to myself and got some good times.’’ Riccardo picked up two places by staying out longer on older tyres.
“Looking good, you did a good job,’’ said his Red Bull manager over the radio as Ricciardo overtook both Verstappen and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
