Reuters
Formula One F1- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 2, 2021 McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo during the press conference Hassan Ammar/Pool via REUTERS
Reuters
Formula One F1- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 2, 2021 McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo during the press conference Hassan Ammar/Pool via REUTERS
Daniel Ricciardo is one of the best drivers in Formula One right now. The McLaren driver is known for his overtaking moves and his late-breaking capabilities. Ricciardo has won 8 races in his F1 career so far, which includes wins in Monaco and Monza.
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But the Aussie driver mentions his greatest racing memory is from his junior racing career. Daniel was racing Valtteri Bottas in Formula Renault 2.0 Cup at Silverstone. The former Red Bull driver remembers the day clearly and explained how he passed the flying Finn on the last lap.
The McLaren driver recalls his battle with Valtteri Bottas
As reported by roadandtrack.com, Daniel mentioned that going into the race, Bottas was the man to beat. The Finn had dominated the first race and secured the pole position for the second race. Ricciardo started the race in P3 but was quickly up to P2 after the start.
From then on, ‘ The Honey Badger’ hounded the flying Finn for the entire race. The Aussie could not really get close to passing Bottas, but he instead pushed him into a mistake.
“He actually defended when he didn’t need to. I just wasn’t close enough to pass in that corner, and that allowed me to get those few car lengths closer. From then on, it was like a cat and mouse.
“OK, he’s nervous. He’s feeling it. The mindset is: ‘Kill’. It’s like when you’re the hunter. You can see the way he’s driving, and you know what he’s feeling. You’re like: ‘He’s vulnerable, and I want to pounce.’ When you smell blood, you just want to go for it.” said Daniel while recalling the incident.
I felt like I won that race, as opposed to him losing it: Daniel Ricciardo
When the Aussie driver finally made his move, he was over the moon. He mentioned that he already had one hand up in the air celebrating the race win.
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Formula One F1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – March 27, 2021, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo before practice REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
When asked why Ricciardo chose this race as his best racing memory, he stated,” Because I was not supposed to win that weekend. I only won because I was harassing him the whole race, forcing him to drive a bit erratic—a bit out of his comfort zone. I felt like I won that race, as opposed to him losing it.”
Both Ricciardo and Bottas have had memorable battles in F1 as well. One certainly hopes we get to witness more wheel-to-wheel action between the two drivers in the coming years.
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