Sparks fly as Daniel Ricciardo makes a move on Raikkonen’s Ferrari and the Williams of Bottas.
Camera IconSparks fly as Daniel Ricciardo makes a move on Raikkonen’s Ferrari and the Williams of Bottas. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Bahrain F1 GP: Daniel Ricciardo overcomes collision to claim fourth

Bill BuysEastern Reporter

DANIEL Ricciardo had a repeat fourth-place finish in last night’s Bahrain Grand Prix despite being involved in a three-car collision on the first corner.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg bolted into the lead while teammate and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton again had a poor start and was T-boned by the Williams of Valtteri Bottas.

Ricciardo then clipped the rear of the Williams and damaged his Red Bull Renault’s front wing; all three drivers were able to continue, and all finished in the points.

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Up front, Rosberg extended his Formula 1 championship lead with a comfortable win, finishing 10 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, with Hamilton a distant third.

Sebastien Vettel did not even make the start after his Ferrari’s engine went up in smoke on the formation lap.

“The race start was interesting,” Ricciardo said.

“I didn’t have a great start and tried to capitalise on the chaos at Turn 1 but ended up with damage on the front wing when Bottas and I came together.

“There was a moment that I thought I would have to pit for a new wing as the chunk that came off looked pretty substantial but we were able to hang in there.

“The damage didn’t affect me too much and we had a good race, although a little lonely towards the end, with some decent points scored.”

The US Haas team had another fine finish with Romain Grosjean taking a superb fifth, 13 seconds behind Ricciardo, while Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen claimed sixth, ahead of Felipe Massa in the Williams.

Ricciardo’s teammate Daniil Kvyat did well, surging from 15th on the grid to finish seventh.

A surprise was the 10th place of Dutch driver Stoffel Vandoorne, who was standing in for the injured Fernando Alonso, which gave McLaren-Honda its first top-10 finish of the season and a world championship point for Vandoorne in his debut drive.

Red Bull Renault team principal Christian Horner was happy with the outcome at Bahrain.

“Daniel got absolutely everything out of the car he could to deliver another excellent race,” he said.

“It was a decent weekend for us with some valuable points in the bank.”