F1 2020: Daniel Ricciardo matches best Renault result after ‘sketchy’ escape at British GP
Daniel Ricciardo matched his best result in a Renault despite the best efforts of a rival to take him out at the British GP overnight.
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Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has equalled his best performance in a Renault, finishing fourth at the British Grand Prix after a wild race.
In the chaos of the final few laps where McLaren driver Carlos Sainz and both Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton suffered tyre punctures, Ricciardo charged towards the podium before finishing just 1.2 seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
It would have been his first podium for Renault but instead equals his best finish, matching his 2019 Italian Grand Prix.
“I should come back online for a little,” Ricciardo tweeted. “Wild race in the end. Great result. Chuffed, as they’d say down here. Splendid. Let’s do it all over again next weekend.”
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But an ugly moment could have undone all his good work as he almost had an issue with Haas’ Romain Grosjean on lap 36.
After two early safety cars, most of the grid took the free pit, with the Haas driver staying out and moving up the leaderboard.
Grosjean was twice looked at during the race for moving under braking with faster drivers trying to overtake – once against Sainz and once against Ricciardo.
In the early incident with Sainz, the McLaren driver said over team radio: “He changed direction. Dangerous driving. Oh my god.”
But the stewards awarded just a black and white flag, which is essentially a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour and can lead to a black flag of disqualification for further infringements
With Ricciardo stuck behind Grosjean for some time, the Frenchman swerved at the Aussie.
Ricciardo said on team radio: “Yup, yeah, that was sketchy.”
Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle agreed. “He’s moved at least a car’s length across the track,” Brundle said.
“You can’t race people who move in the braking zone. Once you get into the braking zone, which they were approaching, you’ve got to trust the guy in front of you.”
The stewards didn’t hand down a penalty during the race, instead speaking to the drivers post race.
“I think he’ll just get a warning,” Ricciardo said. “As long as he’s aware that that was close to being a bit over the edge. Anyway, it’s all good.”
Ricciardo was happy with the result, despite going as close to the podium as he’s been in the yellow and black of Renault.
He said he was happy with the start as he made up a few spots, but then dropped back when he couldn’t overtake Sainz, before being overtaken by Norris.
After the Grosjean issue, it all fell into place as he avoided the chaos of the final laps, calling the finish “pretty wild”.
“We got pretty close to Leclerc in the end and I don’t think he was suffering too much so I think we had some good pace,” Ricciardo said.
“What’s exciting is that it’s probably going to force everyone to two-stop next week, especially after the issues today so I think that adds a bit of variability. Everyone got a free pit stop under safety car today so I think we’ll be all right. Fourth and sixth, big day for the team, I’ll keep pushing hard on the right pedal and less hard on the left.”
Originally published as F1 2020: Daniel Ricciardo matches best Renault result after ‘sketchy’ escape at British GP