“Why Can’t Mercedes Have a Failure or Something”- Daniel Ricciardo Rues Missed Podium Chance

Amidst all the talk of Ferrari’s woes and Mercedes’s domination, Renault F1’s performance almost went unnoticed. To put it simply, the French team had an amazing race. Actually, they were bloody good right throughout the weekend! Both Renault drivers, Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, displayed some very good pace and rightfully bossed the midfield in Spa, coming home in P4 and P5 respectively.

Ricciardo came as close as possible to winning his first podium with Renault, he even set the fastest lap. But the gap to the top three was just too tough to overcome. After the race, the jolly Australian joked that he was desperate for a Mercedes failure so that he could get a podium place.

After putting in one heck of a performance, Ricciardo said, “I’m just like, ‘why can’t Mercedes have a failure or something.’ You normally don’t wish it upon anyone but why not!”

Of course, we would have loved to seen Daniel back on the podium just for the sake of it. But knowing that Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul would have to get a tattoo thereafter, it would have made a podium finish all the more fun.

Daniel Ricciardo hopeful for a shot at a podium finish in Monza

According to the man from down under, he believes that the team can replicate today’s performance next week. He said, “Mugello is an unknown, but Monza, I think we can. Look, obviously, I just joked about it, the truth is as much as I want the podium, I want to earn it on track. 

“We were good enough for 4th today so I’m happy with that. But yeah, Monza, maybe we can get ahead of Max and steal the last spot on the podium, we’ll see.”

The result for Ricciardo puts him into 8th place on the Driver’s Championship table with 33 points. For Renault, their Belgian outing helps them bridge the gap to the other midfield teams. They now have 59 points to their name, only 2 behind Ferrari, who are in 5th place on the Constructors’ Championship table.

While the races to determine the winner may be boring, you can bet that the crazy midfield battles will keep entertainment levels as high as possible.