F1: The best of Daniel Ricciardo in the 2018 season

#3 A fighting P4 at Japan, having begun P15

F1 Grand Prix of Japan

The 2018 Japanese Grand Prix wasn't the finest race for Daniel Ricciardo, who could only qualify fifteenth for the contest.

On the other hand, Verstappen was busy clocking up great times to secure a place among the top three.

But on race day, Verstappen would understand just why his teammate soon to drive against him in bright yellows is so highly rated.

In marking one of the finest recoveries of his Red Bull racing career, the Australian driver was fast to pass the cars stacked in front of him in making no bones about the fact that he had had enough in a forgettable qualifying a day earlier.

What's more? It was evident that the other drivers were going to pay, coming once again under the attack of the 'honey badger.'

Ricciardo would first battle the Racing Point Force Indias' and would then pass Kevin Magnussen of Haas, diving down the inside of the Dane.

By Lap 2, he was up into fourteenth, post which he would manage to emerge tenth on Lap 6.

Later on, as Verstappen and Vettel would come to blows in a desperate move by both drivers, Ricciardo would be one of the beneficiaries, jumping onto ninth.

Soon, on Lap 12, the 'master of late braking' would jump onto eighth after passing Peres in a bold move around the chicane. He would make some more interesting places to eventually finish fourth, not too bad for a man who didn't seem in contention of finishing inside top ten having begun fifteenth, right?