PASS MASTER RICCIARDO TAKES SURPRISE VICTORY IN SHANGHAI
Daniel Ricciardo made a string of thrilling overtaking moves to snatch a surprise Chinese Grand Prix victory yesterday after a safety car strategy gamble by his Red Bull team paid off handsomely.
The Australian, who started sixth after almost missing qualifying, made the most of fresher tyres to finish 8.8 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes.
“I don’t seem to win boring races,” he grinned from the podium, before chugging the champagne from his racing boot in a trademark ‘shoey’.
“They are all pretty fun but that was unexpected.”
Kimi Raikkonen took third place for Ferrari but title contenders Red Bull’s Max Verstappen accepted blame for a Chinese Grand Prix collision with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel yesterday but rejected a suggestion that he might need to calm down his driving style.
The 20-year-old Dutch driver was handed a post-race time penalty by stewards for his botched attempt to pass the Formula One championship leader. That meant Verstappen, who had the advantage of fresher tyres, dropped from fourth to fifth in a race he could have won and that went instead to Australian teammate Daniel
Ricciardo.
Vettel, winner of the season’s opening two races, finished eighth.
“I could see him struggling on the tyres and tried to brake late into the corner and locked the rears a bit and hit him, so that was of course my fault,” Verstappen told Sky Sports television.
“It’s easy to say afterwards I should have waited, it probably would have been the best idea but unfortunately it happened.”
The pair were seen talking things through afterwards.
The Red Bull driver has damaged his chances already this season, retiring Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both endured trying afternoons, the four times world champions ending up fourth and eighth respectively.
“I was in no-man’s land today,” said Hamilton. “I had no pace.”
Vettel, who won the first two races of the season for Ferrari, saw his lead over Hamilton slashed from 17 points to nine.
Unravelled
The German’s race unravelled spectacularly, a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dropping him down the order, after the prerace favourite had initially made a good start from pole and held the early lead.
Verstappen had a 10 seconds penalty applied post-race for causing the collision, dropping in Bahrain last weekend after a clash with Mercedes’ four times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
He lost out again yesterday when he tried to pass Hamilton, who has already spoken of Verstappen’s inexperience costing Red Bull precious points.
“Just at the moment it’s not going the way I like, of course. But does it really mean I have to calm down? I don’t think so,” said Verstappen.
“It’s just very unfortunate those things happening. I just need to analyse everything and try to come back stronger for the next race.”
Vettel, who had issues with Verstappen last year, said the collision was needless.
“I didn’t see him until very late, I left a little bit of room as well,” he said. “To be honest, I was expecting him to come earlier.
The German said such a mistake could happen to anyone making such split-second decisions.
“But you have to ultimately have these things in mind and make sure you don’t crash,” he added. “He could have easily taken his front wing off, get a puncture or whatever. And then it’s game over for both of us.” the Dutch youngster from fourth to fifth.
Vettel was also passed by the McLaren of Fernando Alonso two laps from the end.
Ricciardo’s mechanics had performed a minor miracle to change a blown engine after practice on Saturday, getting him out just in time during the first phase of qualifying.
“Putting ourselves 24 hours ago, I thought we might be starting at the back of the grid,” said the Australian. “Today is the real reward for that work.”
Yesterday’s win was Ricciardo’s first since a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix last June and it also broke Mercedes’ Shanghai stranglehold, with the champions having won the last six races there.
Mercedes are yet to win this year, the first time since the turbo hybrid era started in 2014 that they have been beaten for three races in a row.
Ricciardo and Verstappen were not early contenders but the deployment of the safety car on the 32nd of 56 laps, after the Toro Rosso pair Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley collided and left debris on track, swung the race Red Bull’s way.
Bottas was in the lead at that stage ahead of Vettel, having overhauled the German during the pitstops, while Verstappen was fourth and Ricciardo sixth.
Red Bull pulled both their cars into the pits, ‘double-stacking’ them and bolting a set of fresh soft tyres on each.
The advantage of fresh tyres allowed Verstappen and Ricciardo to scythe through the field.
“The safety car was so unlucky for us,” exclaimed Bottas over the radio.
Verstappen botched his chances of victory, and a possible onetwo for Red Bull, with scrappy attempts to overtake the main title contenders.
The Dutchman ran wide and dropped back behind Ricciardo when trying to pass Hamilton and later spun his Red Bull and Vettel’s Ferrari while attempting to pass the German for third.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth for Renault, ahead of Alonso whose aggressive overtaking move on Vettel was ‘noted’ by stewards.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz was ninth for Renault with Kevin Magnussen rounding out the top 10 for Haas. REUTERS