Daniel Ricciardo: the 3 best wins of his F1 career

Although currently not on the F1 grid, Daniel Ricciardo has pulled off some fantastic wins in his career – here are three of his best.

The Australian began his Formula 1 career with stints at backmarker teams, HRT and Toro Rosso. He impressed in his first few seasons, though, moving up to Red Bull in 2014.

Ricciardo developed a reputation as a super-fast, daring overtake artist with the Milton Keynes squad, and won seven races. Despite this, he still left Red Bull for Renault in 2019. Two years here did not deliver any wins, so Ricciardo switched to McLaren in 2021.

His time with the British team had super highs and lows. For instance, Ricciardo won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix – McLaren’s first victory since 2012. But 2022 proved incredibly difficult as the Aussie struggled with the new aero cars. So, McLaren let him go, and Ricciardo returned to Red Bull to be their third driver this season.

Whilst at Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo had three of the best wins of his career. But which GPs were they?

#3: 2018 Chinese Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo pulled off a series of stunning overtakes to take one of his best wins at the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix.

Starting from sixth, Ricciardo appeared consigned to a place behind the Ferraris and Mercedes in Shanghai. Meanwhile, teammate Max Verstappen was showing good potential as he fought Kimi Raikkonen for a podium.

However, a safety car for debris at the penultimate corner offered the Australian an opening back into the race. Whilst Merc and Ferrari stayed out, Red Bull went on the offensive and pitted for fresh tyres.

This gave both Verstappen and Ricciardo license to attack, which they grabbed with both hands. Ricciardo first overtook Raikkonen, diving down the Finn at Shanghai’s famously tight hairpin.

Two laps later, Verstappen’s overzealous attempt to pass Lewis Hamilton allowed his teammate into fourth. “The honey badger” then pulled off a sublime move past the Mercedes star at turn 14 to reach the podium spots.

Ricciardo was near unstoppable now and cruised past Vettel with DRS into second.

With just Valtteri Bottas left ahead of him, Red Bull’s marauding ace saved his best overtake for last. When Bottas defended hard into turn 4, an unphased Ricciardo braked unbelievably late with a full-send move down the inside.

Although forceful, it was a clean pass, thus allowing the Aussie to streak away for a memorable win.

#2: 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

2014 was truly a breakout season for Daniel Ricciardo. He moved up from Toro Rosso to the senior team to partner with four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel. A daunting prospect for many – but not Ricciardo.

As Mercedes dominated the inaugural turbo-hybrid era season, the Australian was the only non-Silver Arrow driver to win a race. Daniel Ricciardo did this on three occasions, with the best of his wins coming at the Hungaroring.

Wet conditions early on proved tricky for many, causing Lewis Hamilton to spin on lap 1. Ricciardo had a slow start himself, sliding from fourth to sixth. However, he quickly made dividends by pitting earliest for dry tyres and benefitting from a lap 9 safety car.

But the Red Bull driver lost his inherited lead after the restart as Jenson Button overtook him. Clearly, this race was one full of ebbs and flows for Daniel Ricciardo.

A lap 23 safety car for a Sergio Perez crash gave the Aussie a new opportunity, though. He changed strategy and pitted – knowing he’d have to stop again before the end for fresh rubber. In contrast, the leaders stayed out to make just one pit visit.

Following his third stop with 15 laps remaining, Ricciardo had to chase down Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. He started with the Brit, pulling off a fantastic manoeuvre in the first sector to move up to second. Then, with three laps left, the Aussie flew down the inside of Alonso into turn one for the lead.

Read – Sebastian Vettel: the top 3 wins of his F1 career

He was untouchable after moving up to first and took the chequered flag for his second career win.

#1: 2018 Monaco Grand Prix

Ricciardo vanquished demons from his 2016 Monaco GP disappointment to win around the streets of the principality in 2018.

The honey badger dominated the whole weekend in Monte Carlo. He was fastest in FP1, FP2, and FP3, plus took pole in qualifying. On Sunday, Ricciardo made a perfect getaway to cover Sebastian Vettel into Saint-Devote and maintain first place.

He then proceeded to keep Vettel at an arm’s length throughout the first stint. In this particular Monaco Grand Prix, tyre wear was key; fortunately, Ricciardo’s Red Bull was much better on its tyres than the Ferraris and Mercedes.

This gave Red Bull the ability to react to those behind them, who all pitted early due to tyre graining. So, when Ricciardo came in on lap 17, he still emerged ahead of Vettel to stay in first. Everything was going to plan for the Australian – until lap 28.

With 50 laps left to race, Ricciardo encountered an engine problem. An ERS failure on his power unit put him at a significant power disadvantage. He had lost over 150 horsepower from his engine as a result of the issue.

Ricciardo adjusted to this straight-line deficit by going on full attack mode in the corners, maintaining a stable lap time. Meanwhile, Vettel never really had a clear chance to attack. His tyre wear caused numerous lock-ups – and Ricciardo knew all the right places to be quick so as to avoid pressure from the German.

Although Monaco’s tight layout made it easier to prevent overtakes, the way Ricciardo managed a severely underpowered car to victory was nothing short of incredible. That is why the 2018 Monaco GP is top of our best wins by Daniel Ricciardo list.

Featured image credit: Getty

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