Daniel Ricciardo wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Daniel Ricciardo snatched the opportunity with both hands when he won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was an awesome race and a crazy one. According to him it was one of the most exciting Grand Prix since the beginning of the V6 hybrid engine era. We had to make a couple of stops to clean the debris in the brakes, that’s where we dropped back to 17th, and boy did we think that we would win this race? It was highly unlikely but we pulled it through. In fact I had put all my money on it.
5th Grand prix win for Daniel Ricciardo
This was the race that they expected last year in Baku, but was fortunate enough to get it here with the safety of our cars, including the red flag stoppage at one point. While closing in on the 6th anniversary of Formula 1 debut, this is his 5th grand prix win this year with 117 starts this year. They have been in the podium for four races straight and had received a hat-trick of thirds before this win. Daniel Ricciardo’s first visit was to Azerbaijan where he went to the podium since the Malaysian Grand Prix last year.
Driving dangerously
Sebastian Vettel, who was previously Daniel Ricciardo’s red bull team mate, was in trouble in Baku for swerving his Ferrari into Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes. Driving dangerously could put everyone into risk as it could get a lot worse. You can imagine what kind of reaction you can expect from kids who are watching the F1 today and see what kind of behavior they can expect from a four-time world champion.
You might have to pay for some extra hand baggage @danielricciardo… #AzerbaijanGP #givesyouwings pic.twitter.com/yEPmBmNqos
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 25, 2017
Winning the Grand Prix despite setbacks
After all the hoopla and much fuss, a ten second stop go penalty in pits, Vettel was able to finish 4rth to extend his world championship lead to 14points over Hamilton, who came in fifth once he stopped for a quick fix of his headrest that turned in loose. While Renault engine was powering Daniel Ricciardo’s red bull remained underperformed in comparison to the Ferrari and Mercedes units. This smart move puts the Aussie up to the 4rth position in the championship as he was sandwiched between with Kimi Raikkonen driving a Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas driving a Mercedes.
Youngest Canadian to claim third position
Bottas and Canadian rookie Lance Stroll occupied the second and third positions respectively. Lance Stroll being one of the youngest drivers was quite ecstatic to make it to the podium in his first F1 season. He was 18years and 239days when he stood on the podium, thus eclipsing Max Verstappen who was aged 18years and 228days only. He was also the winner of the last year’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw the force India-Mercedes cars battling against one another, with young French driver from Force India Esteban Ocon who finished 6th, and his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez was sidelined. Daniel Ricciardo was super happy with his victory lap. It seemed like Daniel Ricciardo despite not being one of the quickest cars in the podium, still was fortunate enough the race.
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