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Daniel Ricciardo is one of the biggest stars in Formula 1 right now. He's also someone whose stardom has recently not been in concurrence with what he's done on track. After the race in Singapore, there are serious suggestions that Daniel might not even make it back to the grid.
With that being said, a lot of contemporary F1 fans don't know what made Daniel Ricciardo such a big star in the sport. They don't know why the Australian was revered as much as he was when he unofficially bid farewell to the sport (it's yet to be official what's going to happen with the driver).
At the same time, many felt conflicted when, out of the blue, one of the more ruthless operations on the grid, Red Bull, picked him up from obscurity and looked at him as one of the drivers that could replace Sergio Perez.
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Not only that, the driver was loved and respected by almost everyone on the grid. While his F1 stint beyond 2021 doesn't paint him in the brightest of lights, Daniel RIcciardo's run before that and some of his drives were truly sensational. In this feature, we'll take a look at the top 5 races of his career.
Top 5 races of Daniel Ricciardo's career
#5 2016 F1 Monaco GP
There aren't many complete race weekends that end in heartbreak, but that was precisely what happened with Daniel Ricciardo during the 2016 F1 Monaco GP. The Australian always had an affinity with the track and the legacy when it comes to winning at the iconic place. For the first time in his career in 2016, he had a car capable of fighting for the win. He did what he was supposed to do on Saturday when he blitzed the entire field and secured pole position.
On Sunday we had inclement weather. Unperturbed, Daniel went about his business and was brilliant in every aspect during the race. He had a commanding and dominant lead upfront when he was finally called in for the final round of pitstops.
It was here that everything went haywire. The pitstop was a mess and the driver lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton. From that point onwards, the driver tried everything to overtake the Mercedes driver but to no avail. In the end, he finished second and cut a very angry figure on the podium.
He did however leave a mark and that he was ready to fight at the front with the best if he had the car under him.
#4 2014 F1 Canadian GP
It's not often that an opportunity opens up for a win and it is a young inexperienced driver who stands up and makes it count. This was Daniel Ricciardo in 2014 when he first got the promotion to Red Bull. The Australian was teamed up with Sebastian Vettel, and in this race, both drivers were in contention for the win, stuck behind the DRS train that had Nico Rosberg in a hobbling Mercedes with reliability issues and Sergio Perez on a one-stop strategy with tires that were coming closer to the end of their life.
What was needed at this stage was decisiveness and it was Daniel who pulled it off and got the jump on Sergio Perez first and then Nico Rosberg to clinch the win. With Sebastian Vettel right behind, it made the win even more special as it was the Australian who was the first to get the win that season ahead of his teammate.
#3 2021 F1 Italian GP
Daniel Ricciardo's move to McLaren triggered the decline of his career but there were still moments when one could see why he was picked by the team. One of those weekends was in 2021 when Daniel was on point in a very under-the-radar manner.
McLaren wasn't supposed to be the car that challenged for wins in 2021 and in terms of pure performance, it wasn't there yet. With that being said, Daniel had positioned himself to start the race on the front row alongside Max Verstappen. The Australian nailed the start and jumped into the lead and from that point onwards it was all about managing the race.
With Verstappen further colliding with Lewis Hamilton after the first pitstop, it left the door open for the Australian and he walked through it. It was a memorable win for the driver that prompted a team radio of "I never left" from the Australian.
#2 2018 F1 Monaco GP
In 2018, Daniel once again got the opportunity to nail everything at one of the tracks he wanted to win so dearly. He was back in Monaco, and he had the car with which he could fight for the win. He secured pole position once again, but what was more interesting was what happened afterward in the race, as after the first pitstop, the Australian PU encountered an issue.
With the MGU-K not working, the driver was losing tons of power and a lot of lap time as well. Fortunately for Daniel, it was Monaco, and thus he could use his racecraft to manage the car and still keep the lead. Driving seconds off the pace, Daniel Ricciardo brought home the limping Red Bull and earned what was an emotional win for him.
#1 2014 F1 Hungarian GP
The 2014 F1 season saw Mercedes with a car that was around a second per lap quicker than anything else on the grid. The team had Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg as drivers, and they were no slouches either. In the mixed weather conditions in Hungary, however, it was neither of those two drivers, not Fernando Alonso, nor Sebastian Vettel, who won the race.
It was the fresh-faced recently promoted Daniel Ricciardo who made the most of every opportunity in front of him, showed a very impressive pace, and when it came to it, pulled off decisive passes on Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to win the race. Even today, if we go back and look at the Australian's race execution in 2014, it is the work of an elite talent.
