2018: Ricciardo’s finest moment
The same is probably true for Ricciardo too, just one year on from the race that must be right up there among the greatest days of his life. Now at Renault, the cheerful Aussie seemingly stands no chance of a repeat.
After the pain of Red Bull’s pit error robbing victory from him in 2016, last year was particularly sweet, especially as he was forced to manage a loss of power from an MGU-K failure. For 50 laps. OK, overtaking at Monaco is tough, but this was mightily impressive.
Hamilton was only third behind Vettel, who chased Ricciardo hard for the win, as Mercedes once again found itself overshadowed at the highest profile race of them all.
Will it happen again on Sunday? On current form, it’s hard to see how. The team’s two-year Monaco hoo-doo really should come to an end.
Then again, around this F1 anachronism of a grand prix, you just never know. If anywhere can inspire a surprise, it’s Monaco.
Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.