Ricciardo leaving Spa “fulfilled” after inheriting final point from Russell

Daniel Ricciardo will head into a decisive summer break one point richer after inheriting the final points-paying position in the Belgium Grand Prix, a necessary feat as Red Bull looks to cement its lineup ahead of F1’s next outing in Zandvoort.

Starting the final race ahead of the month-long hiatus, Daniel Ricciardo looked to lay it all out on the line in hopes of clawing his way back up into the top ten. 

It was a goal he momentarily achieved during the final stint of the race before losing out to a tyre decifit, however, with some post-race intervention it became a reality on Sunday evening.

Off the line, Ricciardo didn’t get the ideal jump despite being the only driver to commence the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix on the soft tyre, losing out to a far quicker Valtteri Bottas through the first sector. 

He was instantly on the defence, being hunted down by Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin.

Holding his own over the Canadian for the first stint, the Australian remained in P14 before diving into the pitlane for his first of two stops on Lap 8.

Rejoining the race in P17, Ricciardo had Alex Albon as company ahead.

From there, he spent 12 laps running behind the Williams driver, and despite coming within eight-tenths of demoting Albon, the #3 was called in for his second stop.

The hard tyre proved virtuous for Ricciardo, giving him an extra edge to charge past Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen within the span of three laps.

The earlier roles were reversed between Ricciardo and Stroll, with the #3 becoming the driver to chase down the overtake.

Originally seven seconds back on Stroll, Ricciardo used his DRS advantage to close down on the #18 at Turn 7, slotting into the covered points positions with 10 laps remaining. 

Unfortunately, the final point wasn’t Ricciardo’s to keep on track, with the Australian crossing the line in P11, after Esteban Ocon’s fresher tyres helped the Alpine cruise by in the final laps.

Daniel Ricciardo on track during the Belgian Grand Prix. Image: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

“Today was very similar to [Saturday],” Ricciardo said. 

“I’m quite pleased as I feel like we had a really strong two-stop race, but unfortunately so did some others and I think they had a bit more pace than us, so it wasn’t good enough to get rewarded. 

“Esteban (Ocon) was generally a bit quicker and also had fresher tyres, so I’m disappointed with our final result, as we tried our best to keep the tenth place in the last few laps.”

That was speaking before he was made aware of George Russell’s disqualification for his Mercedes being underweight, with Ricciardo and RB’s disappointment now somewhat eased after their promotion. 

Heading into the summer break, the #3 now has 12 points to his name in the drivers’ championship, contributing just over a third of RB’s 34-point total as the team looks to extend their lead over Haas in P6.

“It was a positive weekend and I’m leaving Spa content and fulfilled, which pleases me entering the summer break,” he said.

“Looking ahead after the break, I’m excited to get back to Zandvoort and we’ll keep the momentum going from the last few races.”

The tight championship battles will pick back up in the Netherlands in less than a month, with the Dutch Grand Prix taking place from August 23-25.

Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

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