Daniel Ricciardo recovered from a major setback in Russia before pointing out why his teammate Lando Norris got things so wrong.
Daniel Ricciardo has got his groove back.
A fortnight after his stunning win at the Italian Grand Prix, the Australian produced another excellent performance to finish fourth at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday night (AEST).
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Qualifying fifth on the grid, Ricciardo started like a rocket, as has been customary for him in recent races.
But other drivers caught him up down the long first straight, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso passing Ricciardo into Turn 1, before he showed his class to swiftly overtake the pair.
Ricciardo drove superbly to keep Hamilton at bay for the first half of the race until disaster struck.
The McLaren was in second place and on track for a possible podium finish when he pitted on lap 23, but he was forced to endure an agonisingly slow pit stop, as his mechanics struggled to change his front left tyre.
The delay proved costly as Ricciardo emerged from the pits in 14th position with a mountain of work to do.
But he quickly moved through the field, passing the likes of George Williams, Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo’s race craft was on full display as he recovered from the slow pit stop, with the only negative coming when Red Bull’s Sergio Perez managed to pass him.
“Very mature drive by Ricciardo as well isn’t it? Showing his class,” Sky Sports expert commentator Paul di Resta said.
“Maybe not ultimately getting the speed out of the car but when it comes to wheel to wheel racing, he’s kind of getting back in the same zone as where he was last year.
“I’d say he’s the third best on the track next to Hamilton and (Max) Verstappen.”
Commentator David Croft added: “Form is temporary, class is permanent and Daniel Ricciardo certainly has plenty of class.”
The 32-year-old showed all of his experience when rain started to fall on the track at Sochi with just six laps remaining.
Drivers and their teams were frantically deciding whether to sacrifice their grid position and come into the pits to change into more wet weather-friendly intermediate tyres.
Ricciardo opted to change tyres — unlike teammate Lando Norris, whose tactical error cost him a maiden F1 win — and it paid dividends as he surged around the final few laps to eventually finish fourth.
The race was won by Hamilton, who snatched the victory from Norris after Mercedes insisted on changing his tyres to suit the rain while the McLaren driver opted not to pit until it was too late and he had completely lost control on his slick tyres.
By then the damage was done and Norris was relegated to seventh after his first F1 victory seemed within reach distance just moments earlier.
Why Ricciardo ignored his teammate’s strategy
Ricciardo had sympathy for his McLaren teammate but said in his opinion, it was the right decision to pit and change for intermediate tyres when the rain fell.
Ignoring the tyre strategy that ultimately cost Norris victory was crucial for Ricciardo as he took a different approach.
“You know I’m asking pit wall if the rain’s getting heavier because this part of the track was more or less dry, it was the far part which was wet,” he said after the race.
“And we are the best reference for that so I said like Turn 5, Turn 7, I can’t keep it on the track anymore.
“So for me it was clear, I said I need to come in for the inter(mediates) because Turn 7 I went off nearly close to the wall.
“So it wasn’t even a question for me. I told the guys I need inter.
“I think normally, we are the best judge for that because we are the one feeling the track but again, I’m not speaking about Lando’s situation.
“At least for me today it was clear and actually in hindsight probably one lap earlier was even better. We still probably didn’t perfect it but it was still the right call.
“Yeah, Lando’s race was a bit of a disaster at the end. It could have been by my understanding a first or a second by the sound of it.
“From a team (perspective), I think there’s encouragement with performance, obviously there could have been more points today but we’ll keep looking at it.”
Overall, Ricciardo was pleased with his performance under trying circumstances but was determined to keep improving.
“I think I got Alonso and Lewis back on lap one so it was net even in the end and then defended a bit, some good passes then Perez got me,” he said.
“So some good moments, some not good but keen to keep working on it.
“I think personally, I’m still eager to find the speed in the car.
“I don’t think it was as comfortable a weekend as Monza, certainly a bit more tricky and bit compromised with Friday so I don’t think we ever really got back on top of it, so try to keep working on it.”
It was always going to be a tough ask to repeat his heroics from Monza but Ricciardo showed he has well and truly put his struggles at McLaren behind him with a strong start to the second half of the season.
He remains eighth in the drivers’ standings but fourth place in Russia closed the gap to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to just nine points.
Ricciardo’s improved output has delighted his bosses at McLaren.
“I think what was very good to see today was Daniel’s performance again, finishing in the end in P4,” McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said.
“Still gave us a lot of good points. I think we could still score more than Ferrari, which is the main battle we are in at the moment in the constructors’ championship.
“So lots of positives, some points to look into and learn from and just want to do the next race now.”
Russian Grand Prix results
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4) Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
5) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
6) Fernando Alonso, Alpine
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) George Russell, Williams