Daniel Ricciardo charged to victory in a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix, while his Red Bull Racing team-mate Max Verstappen was involved in a contentious clash with points leader Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari ace Vettel started from pole in Shanghai, and early on looked on course to take his third win of the year. But Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas pitted a few laps before Vettel and put in a charge on fresh tyres to grab the lead.
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But the grand prix turned due to a mid-race safety car. While Ferrari and Mercedes left their drivers out, both Red Bull racers stopped for fresh tyres, giving them extra pace in the closing laps.
Verstappen looked on course to benefit most but, when he ran off track trying to pass the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, Ricciardo grabbed the initiative. He stormed past Hamilton, Vettel and finally Bottas to take victory. Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari.
Here are five more Chinese Grand Prix takeaways.
It’s never dull when Ricciardo wins
“I don’t seem to win boring races,” said Ricciardo on the podium – and he’s right. The Australian has now won six grands prix, and has started fourth on the grid or lower in all of them.
Ricciardo’s charge included a late but clean lunge down the inside of Hamilton at the hairpin. “Sometimes you’ve just got to lick the stamp and send it,” explained the Australian.
Ricciardo actually had his biggest drama on Saturday, when his TAG-branded Renault power unit failed in final practice (below). His mechanics finished changing the unit with minutes to spare in the first part of qualifying.
“The mechanics worked their butts off,” said Ricciardo. “The win was the real reward for all their hard work.”
