Daniel Ricciardo's eight F1 victories

Canada 2014, the first

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For his 57^e start of a Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo starts from 6th place. When the lights go out, he escapes the trouble that occurs in the pack and requires the intervention of the safety car. After the restart, he finds himself behind the Williams de Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Stuck behind the two drivers, the Australian changes strategy and anticipates his pit stop. The undercut works on Massa, but not on Bottas. In the middle of the race, the Mercedes The leading cars each encounter the same problem. They lose power due to a failure in their energy recovery system, which causes them to lose top speed.

With five laps to go, Ricciardo passed Sergio Perez and charged at Nico Rosberg, still in the lead, whom he overtook two laps later. The Australian flew away and was then out of reach for the competition. On the last lap a violent accident occurred. The race ended under yellow flag. Daniel Ricciardo then won his first Grand Prix, in what would be his best season in which he dominated a Sebastian Vettel four-time world champion but powerless.

Hungary 2014, shifted strategy

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On a wet track at the start, Ricciardo lost two places when the lights went out. At 6^e lap, Marcus Ericsson went off the track, forcing the safety car to intervene. The four leading drivers were trapped and could not return to the pits, but the Australian dove to put on soft tyres. After a prolonged intervention by the safety car, the race was finally restarted. The Honey Badger was in the lead but was quickly overtaken by Jensen Button, who was on intermediate tyres. While the choice of soft tyres proved ineffective at the restart, the grooved tyres wore out quickly and forced the drivers who had chosen them to stop again.

In the pit stop game Ricciardo regains the lead then loses it again, but finishes the race at a better pace than his rivals. In the final laps, he finds himself third with fresher tires than Fernando Alonso et Lewis HamiltonThe Australian manages to overtake the two world champions at 66^e and 67^e laps and kept the lead until the finish four laps later.

Belgium 2014, the stars align for Ricciardo

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In Belgium, Ricciardo is third in the Drivers' standings, behind the Mercedes. Starting 5th, he manages to get away from Fernando Alonso in front of him on the first lap. On the second, a collision between the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, then in the lead, occurs, forcing the Briton to change tires.

Ricciardo overtakes Sebastian Vettel, his teammate, and catches up with Rosberg, still in the lead. He becomes the leader at 8^e lap after the German pitted to change his spoiler damaged in the crash at the start. The Australian managed to drive a very intelligent race with good pace. He took his third victory of the season and of his career.

Malaysia 2016, Ricciardo the opportunist

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After a complicated 2015 season, Ricciardo returned to success in Malaysia in 2016. At the start, the Australian was fourth, behind the Mercedes and his teammate at Red Bull Max Verstappen. At the first corner, Vettel, now at Ferrari, hooks Rosberg and forces Verstappen to go wide. The situation benefits Ricciardo who finds himself second behind Hamilton.

An intense battle between the Red Bull drivers ensued but the Honey Badger did not give up and held on to second place. This turned into a leading position when Lewis Hamilton, who had been in first place since the start, had his engine catch fire, forcing him to retire. Thanks to this failure, Ricciardo won his first Grand Prix in over two years. Red Bull secured the double with Verstappen's second place.

Azerbaijan 2017, the unexpected victory

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In Baku, the Australian started from a distant tenth place. This Grand Prix was marked from the start by clashes at the front and multiple retirements. Under the safety car, Lewis Hamilton, the race leader, braked suddenly in front of Vettel. Irritated by this surprising maneuver, the German lost his temper, got up to the Mercedes and hit the world champion wheel to wheel. An event that would have its importance in favor of Ricciardo.

After a red flag, the Australian managed to find his rhythm and made a great comeback. He even managed to overtake three cars at once at the first corner. An overtaking move that became legendary. A few laps from the end, Hamilton, still in the lead, was forced to pit to reattach his headrest which came loose from its place on the straights. His runner-up, Vettel, was given a stop and go for deliberately hitting Lewis Hamilton's car under the Safety Car. Ricciardo then found himself in the lead and became the unexpected winner of this Grand Prix full of twists and turns.

China 2018, Ricciardo’s comeback

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Another victory after a meteoric rise. Sixth on the grid for the Chinese Grand Prix, Ricciardo is battling to hold his position against the Renault at the start. At 31^e tower, gasly causes an accident with his teammate, forcing the intervention of the safety car. The Australian takes advantage of this to go to the pits.

Still sixth at the restart at 35^e lap, he then begins his comeback. Two laps later, Kimi Räikkönen is in the sights of the Honey Badger who overtakes him on the second straight. Ricciardo then passes Verstappen, Hamilton then Vettel and stays behind Bottas, the leader. At 45^e lap, the Australian found a mouse hole to overtake the Finn and take the lead of the race. He won at the checkered flag with a lead of more than nine seconds.

Monaco 2018, finally

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Two years after suffering a mistake from his team in the Principality, Ricciardo regained pole position at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018. After a successful first lap, a new twist of fate struck: the Australian lost power. His MGU-K unit was faulty… impossible to repair it or see its condition improve. However, Ricciardo did not give up and kept the lead of the race by keeping Sebastian Vettel behind him.

A virtual safety car is deployed after a crash caused by Charles Leclerc. Enough to relieve some of the pressure in Ricciardo's exhausts, especially since the German world champion's tires were too worn for him to overtake him on the restart. The Honey Badger finally won in Monaco. After the race, he celebrated his success by diving into the Red Bull hospitality pool in a wetsuit, arms outstretched. The moment was immortalized and became iconic.

Italy 2021, the last of the last

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After three years of drought and a stint at Renault that ended in style with two podiums, Daniel Ricciardo lands at McLaren. At Monza, he managed to take the lead at the first corner after starting on the front row alongside Max Verstappen, the poleman of the weekend.

The two McLarens are invited for a Grand Prix in the championship battle between Verstappen and Hamilton. The two leaders of the Drivers' standings each miss their pit stops. The situation therefore benefits Ricciardo who sees the threats move away a little. Even better for him, when the Briton leaves the pit lane, he finds himself level with Verstappen, the two men going down, giving the spectators an unusual image, that of their two single-seaters lying in the gravel, one on top of the other.

After the safety car, Lando Norris overtook Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. The two McLarens are in the lead. In the temple of speed Ricciardo manages to keep his teammate behind him despite the latter's advantage linked to the DRS. The Australian then wins his last victory in Formula 1, with the help of team orders, which was a huge surprise given Norris' superiority internally since the start of the season. A success which, as he confided at the finish, had the taste of a first. And also of a last…

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