Daniel Ricciardo secured fifth at the Italian Grand Prix in a race which saw him complete arguably the best overtake of the season so far.
The Australian started the race from sixth place and made up one position off the grid as a result of Lewis Hamilton’s slow launch. He was soon passed by Hamilton on lap two and remained in sixth place after both his pit stops with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas just a couple of seconds ahead.
Red Bull opted to put super soft tyres on Ricciardo’s car at the final stop giving him the chance and grip to attack Bottas for fifth in the closing laps. Ricciardo had a good drive out of the final corner but seemed too far back from Bottas as they approached the braking zone for turn one, Ricciardo launched down the inside and took the position brilliantly from Bottas without locking a brake or colliding.
In an interview after the race with Sky Sports, Ricciardo described the overtake: “[In my mind I was thinking] just have a go, I was in behind Valtteri for a long part in the middle of the race and once we get close you start to damage your tyres a bit and they’re so quick on the straight and I never got as close as I had that lap. Even though I was far back I thought maybe this is as close as I’ll get so had a go.”
Ricciardo went on to further comment on his overall race: “Yes I’m pleased, obviously coming into the last few races we’ve finished on the podium you hope now for a podium every race. Realistically, we knew Ferrari was going to come here with an edge on us. We knew Williams and Force India would be strong, so fifth was our objective and we got that.”
