MONACO — Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo steadied his nerve when victory threatened to escape him again as he overcame a significant midrace power loss to win the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday.
After guzzling champagne from his sweaty shoe — as he likes to do — it was time to cool off. The popular Australian swan-dived into the swimming pool located on the roof of Red Bull’s motorhome in Monaco’s glitzy harbor.
Better known for his attacking prowess and razor-sharp overtaking, Ricciardo had earlier shown outstanding defensive driving to fend off Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari despite losing an estimated 25 percent of his engine power.
Vettel closed to within one second of Ricciardo with more than half of the 78-lap race left. It seemed certain the German would pass him at some point, but Ricciardo held firm for the seventh win of his career.
Even though the 3.34-kilometer (2.1-mile) street circuit is narrow and notoriously difficult to overtake on, it was still a remarkable drive by Ricciardo, given his damaging power deficit.
Vettel shaved a few points off championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who finished third.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Force India’s Esteban Ocon.