Red Bull Motorsports
F1
F1’s latest winner: Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo took a magnificent maiden grand prix victory at an equally magnificent Canadian GP.
Baptising F1's new winner: Ricciardo on the podium
© Getty Images/Tom Pennington
The relentless action at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve provided one of the best grandstand finishes F1 has seen in years, with the top eight virtually line astern going into the last few laps.
Worn tyres, failing brakes and plenty of overtaking points provided a terrific spectacle.
Daniel Ricciardo was running third in the second half of the race before passing Sergio Pérez for second place on lap 65 and Nico Rosberg for the lead on lap 68.
The race ended in a hail or carbon fibre as Pérez and Felipe Massa had a high-speed collision on the penultimate lap. While attention was fixed on their safe recovery, Daniel made his way around to take the chequered flag in a blur of emergency vehicles and waving yellow flag.
Grinning from ear to ear and sodden with champagne, this is what he had to say straight off the podium...
Daniel, you've just joined a very exclusive club. How does that feel? It's still a bit surreal but just really cool. It's not that we were leading the whole race, so it's not that I had time to understand that I was going to win. It all happened in the last few laps, so I think that's why it is taking a while to comprehend.
Daniel Ricciardo races for his first win
© Getty Images/Tom Pennington
Lighting up F1: Daniel Ricciardo
© Getty Images/Mathias Kniepeiss
Daniel Ricciardo signs autographs
© Getty Images/Mathias Kniepeiss
The race came to life at the end. Mercedes had their issues and it enable us to close on them. We had a good fight with Pérez. They had a really strong car down the straight and it was doing a good job through the corners as well to keep me behind.
But then out of the last chicane I got a really good run on him and made the move stick in Turns One and Two. I was close to overshooting it, dropped a couple of wheels in the grass but it was fine. Then Nico in the closing stages. Really, really nice.
Were there points on the circuit where you felt you could have got past [Pérez], in spite of his greater top speed? To be honest I was trying the whole time I was behind him. He was driving well and wasn't making any mistakes and realistically I needed a bit of a mistake from him because they were just getting off the corner so well. Then he got quite close to Nico and perhaps just overshot the braking a little bit in the last chicane. I managed to stay with him on the exit, get the tow and use the DRS. I knew we were strong braking into turn one and, once I had the outside line free, I went in and made it work. That was the place I wanted to do it – but I wasn't holding back anywhere else.
Prized possession: Maiden win for Ricciardo
© Getty Images/Tom Pennington
What have you acquired this season that's enabled you to achieve this victory? In any sport a lot of it comes down to belief. If you truly believe in something then you tend to make it work. I knew I'd have a great team behind me and I believed with that I'd be able to get some great results.
Were you expecting [victory] to arrive so early in the season? I think it surprised us, because of the pace Mercedes has had all year. Obviously I'm still going to take the victory, don't get me wrong but they had their issues today which allowed us to really make an attack. But it's nice that we capitalised. I think it would have been disappointing if they had their issues and were able to still get the best of us.
You’ve joined three fellow countrymen [Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, and Mark Webber] as a Grand Prix winner. What does that mean to you as an Australian, to win for your country? It's awesome. I'm just really pleased that I was able to capitalise today on the opportunity. It's going to take a little bit to sink in but I'm so very proud. It was great to hear the Aussie anthem. It has been a few years since I won a race – I think 2011, Monaco in World Series – so it's a long time to not be standing on a top step. It's a feeling I missed a lot.
Earlier in the season you said your first goal was to tick off your first win. You've done that; what's the next goal? I think I'll just enjoy this for now and not look too far ahead. I think this is definitely a moment I should embrace. I'm actually supposed to fly back tonight but I don't know if I want to spend my first victory night on a plane!
