It was an exciting Canadian Grand Prix finish for Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, whose surprise win at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last weekend marked a major victory (and a first) for the driver.
Ricciardo, who hails from Australia, is only the second Australian to join team Red Bull, and drives with world champion Sebastian Vettel. With just four laps to go, Ricciardo lapped Nico Rosberg of Mercedes, a team that had won the Canadian Grand Prix from 2010-2012 until team Red Bull, with Vettel, took home the win last year (he came in third this year). Ricciardo has completed more than 50 Grand Prix races in his career and this was his first win with Red Bull. Last year, he completed his second year with Scuderia Toro Rosso, finishing 7th in China and Italy as well as 14th in the Drivers’ Championship.
“It just seems so surreal,” Ricciardo told the Toronto Sun. “I only had the lead on that last lap so it’s not like I had time to really think that I was going to win this race. I think that is why it has taken a while to sink into my head. “I knew I could get past Nico once I was free of Perez because Mercedes had their issues today,” he added about Mercedes’ driver Lewis Hamilton’s late-race car troubles.
