Red Bull Racing‘s Daniel Ricciardo avoided first lap chaos to claim his fourth consecutive podium in Singapore, with second place behind Lewis Hamilton in the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ricciardo qualified third for a race the Australian was determined to win having finished second in both 2015 and 2016 but was once again denied victory as rain and early race drama made for a chaotic race.
“The rain made it all pretty hectic today,” said Ricciardo. “Everyone was in the same boat though and we hadn’t driven in the wet here before so it’s all about switching on early, being aware of the situation and trying to adapt as quick as you can.
Ricciardo made a poor start from the second row, crucially losing out to Hamilton as both Scuderia Ferraris collided with Max Verstappen. From there Ricciardo dealt with gearbox issues to follow Hamilton to the chequered flag, ahead of third placed Valtteri Bottas.
“My start was quite slow off the line. In hindsight probably a good thing, because it allowed the chaos to unfold in front of me,” said Ricciardo. “Then in the first few laps I felt we were okay in the wet but then I felt we were a bit harsh on the tyres.
“Even when we pitted and had fresher tyres, we couldn’t really make an impact on Lewis. The team was asking me to manage the gears through the race and after I learned we had a leak and were losing oil pressure in the gearbox from early on. Of course I came here to win and really wanted it, but second place is great and I’m not going to complain about it.”
