Daniel Ricciardo won Monaco Grand Prix after a splendid fight in a struggling Red Bull.
Monaco was governed by Ricciardo performance through-out the week, who managed to lead the race from pole position.
The Aussie car start struggling for power soon after he left from his only pit stop. The loss of power cost him about 220bhp i.e 25% power of his car because of MGU-K failure.
The team was helpless on track and they radioed Ricciardo, “this is you for the rest of the race now”.
However, Vettel and Hamilton were splendidly held off at second and third positions respectively by Ricciardo in his stricken Red Bull for 50 laps.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, was surprised at the victory and he said, “It was unbelievable,”
He further congratulated him, “You have done an amazing job today. That is right up there with what Schumacher did… and it is payback for 2016.”
Victory at Monte Carlo’s circuit gained him third place with 38 points behind the Hamilton, who lost 3 points to Vettel in championship standings.
Ricciardo’s Redemption
In 2016, a miscalculated pit-stop by his team deprived Ricciardo a potential win at Monte Carlo’s track. He strongly felt that Monaco owed him a victory, which he will have to “earn”.
The race for him had been easy cruise, which suddenly took a turn when his car lost power.
“Two years later I finally feel like redemption has arrived,” Ricciardo said.
“We had a lot to deal with during the race. I felt loss of power and I thought the race was done. I got home just using six gears. Thanks to the team I got it back.
“There were a few doubts getting it to the end of the race but we won Monaco.”
Vettel had been chasing Daniel but could match his performance on track.
“It was a tricky race but I think Daniel had all the answers at the right time,” said Vettel.
“I could see the light flashing on Ricciardo’s car. He was quicker than us, he was able to open a gap and I was never really a threat to him.”
Title contender Hamilton, who finished third, congratulated Daniel, “A big congratulation to Daniel, I’m really happy for him because winning your first race in Monaco is really special.”
