Red Bull expected to be useless here. It turns out that they weren’t quite that, but while Williams and Mercedes were both far quicker than the Renault-powered reigning champions, they did succeed in delivering the highest possible result, fifth and sixth. Another charging race for Daniel Ricciardo coincides with Vettel being beaten yet again despite making a much better start compared to his team mate.
Red Bull Italian Grand Prix Review
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Grid: P8
Race: P6
The highest Renault-powered car on the grid also made a very good start. Vettel found himself fighting with the two McLaren of Kevin Magnussen early on, and pitted early to cover him. This worked out well initially but he struggled with degradation at the end and was passed by his team mate. Vettel needs to figure out what is wrong with his car or his driving style or whatever it is sooner rather than later, otherwise the championship table could look somewhat embarrassing for a four-time champion. He is now 60 points behind his team mate, and he cannot put all of that down to reliability.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Grid: P9
Race: P5
Ricciardo was probably the star of the race for me. He started very poorly, taking the escape road at the first chicane, but began to work his way through the field. Towards the end of the race, Ricciardo rocketed up through the field, and even sold a dummy on his team mate, to take a brilliant fifth place. It is pretty hard to argue that any other driver is driving better than the young Australian at the moment, and has even requested that Red Bull use team orders in his favour.
Red Bull should do pretty well at Singapore, given the nature of the circuit. Sebastian Vettel has won there on the last three occasions and is desperate for a big result there. Red Bull just traditionally go well there and while it is unlikely that they will challenge Mercedes there, they will be looking to gain more ground on Williams, who have had the upper-hand on paper during the last two events.
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