Daniel Ricciardo Makes a Cheeky Sandbagging Reference After Unlikely Monza F1 Win

After putting up a stellar show in Saturday’s sprint, it certainly looked like the highest Daniel Ricciardo could do on Sunday was to finish on the podium.

However, the title contenders, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had other ideas; the duo crashed midway through the race, absolutely shattering the odds of the Australian winning the Italian Grand Prix.

And ultimately, Ricciardo did manage to secure the top spot on the podium for the first time since his Red Bull days. Of course, nobody expected this result to come out of the afternoon at Monza and neither did the race winner, himself.

It was unnatural too, especially for a mid-field car to lead from start to finish. Hence, Ricciardo joked about McLaren’s 1-2, claiming that the entire team had been sandbagging all this time.

What did Daniel Ricciardo say?

Following the race, the Honey Badger reckoned that he felt something special was awaiting him at the end of the race weekend at Monza.

“To lead literally from start to finish I don’t think any of us expected that. I don’t know, there was something in me on Friday. I knew something good was to come,” Ricciardo said during the post-race interview.

“I’ve just been a sandbagging SOB for the whole year! That’s all. I mean, 3rd, 4th, 5th, you might as well win. So, that’s what I did. To not only win but to get a 1-2 – it’s insane!”

McLaren reclaim P3 from Ferrari

The 2021 Italian Grand Prix is certainly a race weekend to remember for McLaren, and it isn’t just because Ricciardo handed them their first victory since 2012.

Apart from that, the British outfit managed to churn a 1-2 out of the race, with Ricciardo stealing an additional point for the fastest lap on the very final lap.

Hence, McLaren head out of Italy, gaining a total of 45 points, which is also the highest-ever points finish haul out of a single race weekend.

Furthermore, McLaren consequently find their way past Ferrari to reclaim P3 in the constructor’s championship table; The gap now being 13.5 points.

Overall, too many positives to take from the Italian GP weekend for McLaren. And with more such high-speed circuits lined up one after the other, McLaren could well secure their P3 in the championship for the second straight season.

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