That he was able to overcome this and deliver the victory he’d been robbed of two years ago should have made for a tremendous story.īut it was hard to shake the feeling this had been sub-par as a sporting spectacle. The power unit problem forced Ricciardo to radically change his braking set-up and cope with a significant loss of performance. His start was flawless, and he coped admirably with having no MGU-K for almost two-thirds of the race.
#F1 2018 monaco driver
He was quickest in all three phases of qualifying and set two lap times quick enough for pole position, the only driver to manage a sub-71 second lap. Thereafter Ricciardo put a stranglehold on proceedings. To his credit he didn’t try to excuse this one, but it was costly enough. But as has been the case too often already this year, Verstappen made a misjudgement. In Saturday’s final hour of practice Verstappen led the way to begin with.
There was almost nothing to choose between their sector times. While Ricciardo headed both practice sessions on Thursday, Verstappen was a clear threat. Red Bull arrived at the Principality knowing this was one of their best chances for victory this year. It was a bitter result for a driver who clicked with Monaco the very first time he drove it, scoring back-to-back wins in the Formula Renault 3.5 support races in 20.
That was one of few occasions Ricciardo’s dependably sunny demeanour vanished. He was on course for victory in 2016 when a shambolic Red Bull pit stop harpooned an otherwise faultless run. Ricciardo had been one of the unlucky three. Yet for a variety of reasons the last three consecutive pole sitters had failed to win the race.
Pole position at Monaco is of paramount importance.
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