Daniel Ricciardo Wins 2018 Monaco Grand Prix

From pole position to checkered flag, Sundays Monaco Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo’s day. After battling power issues halfway through the race, Ricciardo managed to steady his nerves and earned his second win of the season.

Celebrating a win almost lost, Ricciardo took a swig of champagne from his show and took a nose dive into the pool atop the Red Bull motorhome. The Australian was brilliant in his defensive driving to keep Vettel at bay after losing a quarter of his power and only having the use of six gears versus the eight of Vettel and the rest of the pack.

Vettel managed to close the gap to one second and with over 50% of the race to go, it seemed Vettel would pass and take the lead. However, Daniel Ricciardo managed to hold off the hard-driving German to earn his 7th F1 career win.

Monaco is known for being one of the most challenging tracks to pass in due to the circuit being narrow, but even with pole position, Ricciardo pulled off a remarkable win. After celebrating and enjoying his time on the podium, Ricciardo, in post-rave interviews said,

“So much went on for me in that race, trying to figure out what was going on,” said Ricciardo, who was fastest in all three practice sessions as well as qualifying. “This was probably the best weekend of my career.”

"This is payback!"

Listen in on Red Bull radio as @DanielRicciardo claims his first Monaco win#MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/Ht4PsNZWNq

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 27, 2018

Sebastian Vettel took second and was able to reduce Lewis Hamilton’s point lead by three, but with Hamilton finishing third, the day was not what Vettel had hoped as he looks for his 50th Formula win.

Commenting on the race, Vettel said,

“I think we had the pace, but Daniel had the answers all the time.”

Hamilton chose to pit earlier than Vettel and Ricciardo worried that his tires would not hold up but was unable to gain any advantage finishing in third. In post-race interviews, Hamilton said,

“It would have been nice to have come second but I did all I could.”

When it came down to the checkered flag, Daniel had managed to pull ahead seven seconds after Vettel got delayed by the safety car when Sauber’s Charles Leclerc ran into the back of Toro Rossi Brendon Hartley. Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, Valtteri Bottas took fifth and Esteban Ocon sixth. Toro Rossi’s Pierre Gasly finished 7th, and closing out the top 10 was Nico Hülkenberg, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

Max Verstappen had a strong performance in Monaco on Sunday managing to gain 11 positions after starting in 20th. For Ricciardo, who won the Chinese Grand Prix, is now sitting in third in the drivers’ standings. The Australian driver almost won in Monaco in 2016, but after a disastrous pit stop, he lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton and had to settle for second – today it was payback. Commenting, he said,

“Two years in the making and I finally feel redemption has arrived. I thought the race was over.”

After pulling into the winner’s circle, Ricciardo got out of his car slowly, then thumped his chest in celebration, a celebration that was well-deserved. Christian Horner joined the celebration by hugging Ricciardo.

Horner, who was in awe of Ricciardo said,

“He lost about 25 pe cent of the power of the engine. That means his rear brake temperatures are going through the roof. He is having to cool the car. He is the complete article now. You can hear his composure in the car … there is no panic.”

After six races, the F1 season is looking eerily like last years with Lewis Hamilton leading the rivers standings, Vettel is second, and after today’s win, Ricciardo is third after bumping Valtteri Bottas down to fourth.

The next stop of the circuit is in Montreal on June 10th. For Lance Stroll, who finished 17th today and drives for Williams Mercedes, it is his home race and hopeful that his perforce will be better after failing to have a top 10 finish this year.