Tag: Daniel Ricciardo

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F1 2024 Season

Chinese Grand Prix Race Review

Zhou Guanyu’s first home race was a great watch. Brits watching at home got a slightly later start as the race began at 8am BST (3pm in Shanghai).

Kick Sauber driver, Zhou was emotional after receiving support from start to finish, ending the race in P14. The Chinese driver spoke to reporters post-race, he said:

“It’s such an emotional journey these twenty years. It reflects so quickly on your mind, I’m so grateful to be here.”

Emotions were high as Zhou is the first, and so far only, Chinese driver to line up on the starting grid in Shanghai.

Max Verstappen stormed to victory, 13.773 seconds ahead of his friend and racing opponent, Lando Norris. Norris finished in P2, securing 18 points. The McLaren driver was also voted Driver of the Day. Norris was strong all weekend, securing pole position in Saturday’s Sprint Race. However, the 24-year old went wide at Turn 1, missing his opportunity to claim a Sprint Race win and finishing in P6.

Image Credit: Formula1.com

The fastest lap (1:37.810) of the Chinese Grand Prix went to Fernando Alonso. He finished in P7 after reaching speeds up to 200km/h.

However, the mood was low in the RB garage. Daniel Ricciardo was handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Miami due to overtaking Nico Hulkenberg under safety car conditions.

This was not the only bad news for Ricciardo. After a promising race weekend for the RB driver, his race came to an end thanks to a collision from behind by Lance Stroll at the safety car restart. Stroll was handed a ten-second penalty for hitting the back of Ricciardo’s RB. The Aussie suffered damage and retired from the race at the end of lap 34. Tensions were high and Ricciardo complained about the Aston Martin driver. He stated: “he’s making my blood boil”.

Image Credit: Getty Images

Ricciardo’s position at RB may be endangered after the summer break. There is pressure due to reserve driver, Liam Lawson waiting in the wings for an F1 seat.

For F1’s sixth round, we head to the first of three American races. Next up is the Miami Grand Prix at Miami’s International Autodrome on Sunday 5th May. 

Let us know which incident in Shanghai surprised you the most!

Written by Frankie.

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Categories
Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: Hungary 2014!

Taking a look back to one of Daniel Ricciardo’s finest hours in his F1 career, this week we head back to the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix which saw a drying track cause chaos and a charging Daniel Ricciardo come through to take the win!

Source: F1Madness.com

The starting grid saw Nico Roseburg on P1 for Mercedes with Sebastian Vettel in P2 for Redbull. Ricciardo started P4 for Redbull behind Valtteri Bottas in the Williams. The cars started out on intermediate tyres as the track was still very wet from rain earlier in the day. Despite the clean start, many drivers quickly had issues with Lewis Hamilton, Marcus Ericsson, and Romain Grosjean spinning off the track. 

Source: Pittas.com

On lap 23, Sergio Perez in the Force India hit the barriers down the start/finish straight bringing out the safety car. It was under the safety car that Ricciardo’s team made the tactical decision to swop to a two-stop strategy. Drivers continued to spin with Vettel being the next to take the long way down the straight!

On lap 54, Ricciardo made his second pitstop and began to place race leader Fernando Alonso under pressure in his Ferrari. Hamilton was also chasing Alonso for the lead, but his tyres began to fade making an overtake easy for Ricciardo. Ricciardo went on to win the race, claiming his second podium of the year! Ricciardo finished 5 seconds in front of Alonso making it one of the most impressive drives of his career.

Source: SCMP.com

Ricciardo would go onto win again in Belgium and claim his best finish in the Driver’s Championship, finishing the season in 3rd. Despite the intense chaos of the race and multiple drivers spinning and going off track, Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus Renault was the only driver to not finish the race!

Do you remember Hungary 2014? What were your thoughts!?

Written by Cesca.

Categories
F1 2023 Season

Vegas Baby!

Source: SportsIllustrated.com

This weekend, 17th – 19th November, will see the most highly anticipated race of the season take place! The weekend is a unique part of the season with the track events taking place between Thursday and Saturday, rather than the standard Friday to Sunday.

Drivers will be taking to the Vegas streets in the late hours so the full effect of the bright lights can be enjoyed by spectators around the world. The street race will be a true test for drivers and teams as colder than normal conditions are expected to impact the cars and tyres.

Source: GPFans.com

Formula 1 has taken to the streets of Vegas before with the last race being held in 1982! It was known as the Caesars Palace Grand Prix and the track was heavily criticised for being a flat track that reached high temperatures of 37 degrees. 

Ross Brawn, a former F1 managing director, admitted that the series had not considered the low temperatures faced in Vegas at the end of November when initially assigning the track a spot on the 2023 calendar. Many are concerned about how the lower temperatures will impact performance and safety on track.

Source: F1.com

The coldest F1 race in history was the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix where temperatures in the air reached 5 degrees in Montreal. The race was held in early October and those standing on the podium were wrapped in winter jackets as snow began to fall. Especially with rain forecast for parts of this weekend Vegas is on track to beat this record! 

Are you excited for the Vegas race? Leave a comment below!

Written by Cesca.