DANIEL Ricciardo scored his second consecutive trip to the podium with a thrilling third place in the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal – and celebrated with his now traditional ‘shoey’, drinking the champagne from his size 9 Puma – and also had podium compere Sir Patrick Stewart skol the bubbly.
The 70-lap race was led from start to finish by Britain’s Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas second and Ricciardo third in his Red Bull Renault.
Max Verstappen catapulted his Red Bull into second place at the start after clipping Sebastien Vettel’s Ferrari, but an electrical problem sidelined him after just 11 laps.
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READ NOWVettel’s car had some wing damage and he lost time with an early pit stop, resulting in an intriguing battle for third place in the closing stages.
The Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were hot on Ricciardo’s tail with Vettel, running on a fresh set of ultra-soft tyres, closing in on the trio.
The Perth driver was able to ease away as the Force India duo and Vettel argued over position.
Five laps from the finish, Ocon and Vettel both tried to pass Perez into a corner, only to make light contact and drop back.
Vettel then managed to squeeze past both Force Indias to claim fourth, with Perez fifth, Ocon sixth and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen seventh after a frustrating drive due to brake issues.
Nico Hulkenberg was eighth in his Renault and Canada’s Lance Stroll put in a great show on his home track, improving from 17th on the grid to ninth, in his Williams.
Fernando Alonso seemed secure in 10th in the McLaren, but his wretched luck stopped him with just three laps to go, and the final point went to Romain Grosjean in the Haas.
“It was tough out there,” Ricciardo said.
“Sergio Perez was on me for a bit and I couldn’t afford any mistakes, especially in the last sector, because if they get a run it’s hard to keep them behind.
“I had to be close to perfect but it wasn’t easy as the grip was low and the wind was crazy out there.
“Not the easiest third place but when I saw the chequered flag I was like, ‘yes I can finally breathe’.
“I had zero intention of doing a shoey again, but the crowd was chanting and then Sir Patrick (Stewart) got involved so I thought, ‘alright, we might be on here’. I think it turned out pretty good.”
Team principal Christian Horner was delighted with Ricciardo’s performance.
“An excellent podium for Daniel,” he said.
“He really didn’t make any mistakes, despite huge pressures from Force Indias and Ferrari behind. We banked track position early on with the soft tyre with the intention of going to the end of the race and that worked out well.
“It was a great shame for us to lose Max after 11 laps. But I’m sure his time will come soon.
“Leaving Montreal with a podium is a positive result and it was good to see Sir Patrick Stewart having fun on the podium.”
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