MOTORSPORT: Fifth 'a lot of fun' for Ricciardo

For the first time in six Formula 1 races Daniel Ricciardo wasn’t on the podium, but he says last night’s British Grand Prix was “10 out of 10 in terms of fun”.

carsales.com.au global ambassador Ricciardo started from the back of the Silverstone grid after a turbocharger failure in the first stint of qualifying and a penalty for a gearbox change. Then the Australian stormed through the field in the race to finish fifth.

“I love the fight of this sport,” said Ricciardo, who was voted the fans’ driver of the day and added that he felt he had been showing his ‘Honey Badger’ spirit this season, despite his Red Bull-Renault car not being quite a match for the Mercedes and Ferraris.

Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes won the British GP for the fourth straight year and the fifth time in his career – equalling the number of victories in the race by the late Scotsman, Jim Clark, and Frenchman, Alain Prost.

Valtteri Bottas made it a one-two for Mercedes, fighting his way up from mid-pack after also incurring a five-place grid penalty.

The Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel had tyre troubles and were third and seventh, sandwiching the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Ricciardo and the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg.

Mercedes has gone 55 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ world championship, while Hamilton has narrowed Vettel’s drivers’ championship lead to just one point.

Ricciardo remains fourth, 60 points behind Vettel and 37 behind third-placed Bottas, but 19 clear of Raikkonen, while Verstappen is a distant sixth.

Ricciardo survived a potentially damaging off-track excursion early in the Silverstone race, then made a series of dazzling passes and got a “free kick” from Vettel’s late tyre dramas.

“I just felt like the whole race I was overtaking cars,” Ricciardo said.

“We made up a chunk of positions early on and then I got a bit greedy, went off track and ended up at the back again. [But] It was great fun coming back through the field and I gave it everything.

“I’ve been really happy with how I’ve been putting my Sundays together for the last handful of races.”

Before Silverstone, Ricciardo had the win at Baku in Azerbaijan and four third places.

“It’s been strong and to get fifth from the back today I really couldn’t ask for more,” Ricciardo.

“Last week [in Austria] I was the hunted and this week the hunter. I love the fight of this sport and today I felt I could really enjoy that.

“I would give this race 10 out of 10 in terms of fun,” the Aussie stated.

Hamilton, who had come under some criticism for being the only driver to miss last week’s F1 street demonstration in London, controlled the Silverstone race from the start, leading all the way and setting the fastest lap.

Raikkonen had pushed him hard, while Vettel never ran higher than third after losing a lot of time in a battle with the daring Verstappen.

Mercedes has won six of the 10 GPs this season to Ferrari’s three (all by Vettel) and Red Bull’s one (Ricciardo in Baku).

Formula 1 World Championship driver standings after 10 of 20 rounds: 1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) 177; 2 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes) 176; 3 Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Mercedes) 154; 4 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 117; 5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 98; 6 Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Red Bull-Renault) 57; 7 Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India-Mercedes) 52; 8 Esteban Ocon (France, Force India-Mercedes) 43; 9 Carlos Sainz Junior (Spain, Toro Rosso-Renault) 29; 10 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Renault) 26.

F1 constructor standings: 1 Mercedes 330 points; 2 Ferrari 275; 3 Red Bull-Renault 174; 4 Force India-Mercedes 95; 5 Williams-Mercedes 41.