‘That was a crazy race!’: Ricciardo claims points in Monza mayhem
Monday, 7 September 2020
A red-flag disruption put the Australian in contention.
Daniel Ricciardo has claimed another top-10 finish in a frantic and unconventional race at the Italian GP.
The Renault driver, who had hoped for a podium finish after a P4 result in Belgium, crossed the line in sixth place after starting seventh on the grid. Ricciardo’s teammate Esteban Ocon finished in eighth place.
The race was drama-filled, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton having to serve a 10-second stop-and-go penalty after racing to a dominating lead, the Briton then quickly found himself in last place after the race red-flagged due to a Charles Leclerc’s crash.
A full race restart from the grid after the red flag meant the race win was up for grabs, with both Mercedes and Red Bull Racing seemingly out of contention.
🇦🇺 @danielricciardo finishes in sixth after all that #ItalianGP craziness. Another solid points haul for the Aussie 👌 #F1 pic.twitter.com/2MuvYiMDiM
— F1 Australian Grand Prix (@ausgrandprix) September 6, 2020
“That was a crazy race!” Ricciardo said. “It reminded me of Baku in 2017 with a similar, tense feeling and it being very unpredictable.
“Congratulations to Pierre (Gasly) for his first win. I know the feeling from winning for the first time and it’s crazy.
“Sixth isn’t bad for us today, I felt I couldn’t have done anymore in the situation. We weren’t the only ones, but the safety car and red flag did not go our way today.
“After a good start and good pace, the timing wasn’t on our side, but that’s something we can’t change.
“I’m happy with how it went today, we had a great start, good pace and we move onto next weekend.”
Gasly’s (AlphaTauri) victory was the first for a Frenchman in F1® since Olivier Panis in 1996, the podium was rounded out with Carlos Sainz (McLaren) finishing a close second and Lance Stroll (Racing Point) in third.
Ricciardo returns to racing this coming weekend for the first Tuscan Grand Prix, to be held at the famous Mugello circuit, 11-13 September.
