Ricciardo ends streak of bad luck: why didn't Kimi get champagne?

B Daniel Ricciardo experienced the 31st round of the Chinese Grand Prix a true epidemic season. At the home race in Melbourne, the drama began in the second free practice of the year. The local hero was a tad too fast when the session was interrupted. This led to a relocation by 3 starting places. In the end, the fourth place in the race still jumped out.

The technical bad luck in Bahrain is certainly still well remembered by the fans. On the second lap the battery went on strike and paralyzed the entire car. The next hit came in the third training session in Shanghai. The turbo failed, which resulted in an unplanned engine change before qualifying. The conversion was only completed 3 minutes before the end of Q1. A minute and a half later, and Ricciardo should have started the Chinese GP from last place.

“Our mechanics managed to change the engine in the record time of two hours. We normally need an hour longer for this, ”said team boss Christian Horner, praising the screwdriver crew. Nobody could have guessed how much the effort would be worth it. The Ricciardo bad luck only ended with the safety car on the 31st lap mentioned. Red Bull seized the moment with the presence of mind to change double tires. Again the mechanics deserved special praise, this time for the quick and error-free pit stops.

Overtaking maneuvers every two laps

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Ricciardo only needed 9 laps to move from 6th to 1st place.

But then the driver could show what he can do. While teammate Max Verstappen expressed himself cautiously during the overtaking maneuversclumsily, Ricciardo showed one uncompromising maneuver after another. In the 36th lap he grabbed Kimi Raikkonen on the straight - without the help of the DRS.

Verstappen involuntarily made room after his slip in the fight with Hamilton only two laps later. Just one lap later, Ricciardo wrestled the world champion down with a late braking maneuver in the hairpin and took third place. Just two laps later, Sebastian Vettel was due. The Heppenheimer had no chance when Ricciardo flew past on the long straight with the rear wing open.

That left only one opponent. And again it only took two rounds. With a brave attack before Turn 6, the Red Bull with starting number 3 pushed through a small gap. “That was a tight number, but it was fair. I had already decided at Turn 3 that I would dare to attack. Then I saw that Valtteri was defending himself. I had to go far inside. But then he also pulled something over. I was about to back off ... no, just kidding! I knew that there was enough space and that the tires still had good grip. The worst thing that could have happened would have been that I had to go off the track. Then I would have tried again somewhere else. ”

Good times, bad times

The last 11 laps it was just a show. In the end, Ricciardo rolled comfortably over the line as the winner with 8.8 seconds. In the final sprint, the man from Perth also secured the fastest race lap. “That’s crazy. 24 hours ago I thought I had to start from the very back. So once again a big thank you to the mechanics. Today we only got the right reward for it. '

In the end, the winner got really philosophical:' A week ago the mood was still really in the basement when it was over after two laps. I was really frustrated - on the sport and on all the variables that exist in this sport. Sometimes I wonder why I chose this sport of all places, where so many things are out of your control. That really pulls you down. But if you have a day like today, then that makes up for 50 of the bad days. ”

Next“ Shoey ”in Baku?

At the end of the day there was only one left Question left: Why didn't Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas get a sip of champagne from the winner's shoe on the podium? “Unfortunately, I splashed most of it. There wasn't much left. I saw my chief mechanic Genty (Chris Gent) and he had priority. There was no longer anything to hand around. I hope I get a few more opportunities. '

Räikkönen used the steep assist for a rare humorous moment:' We were really lucky today. 'To which Ricciardo countered:' Maybe then at next time. It's a privilege. ”Already intwo weeks there is the next opportunity to toast - of all places in Azerbaijan, the place of the last Ricciardo victory.