{"id":378249,"date":"2024-03-21T18:52:54","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T19:52:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=378249"},"modified":"2024-03-21T21:03:10","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T21:03:10","slug":"crazy-weekend-disqualified-ricciardo-rose-to-stardom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=378249","title":{"rendered":"'Crazy' weekend disqualified Ricciardo rose to stardom"},"content":{"rendered":"

"Maybe it is too good to be true," Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> winced recounting the moment he knew his Australian Grand Prix<\/a> podium would be taken away.<\/p>\n

As he basked in the glory of an adoring home crowd, hours later it all came crashing down as word reached that he had been disqualified for a technical breach.<\/p>\n

The record books may paint that weekend with a big black line through it and the letters "DSQ", but it remains one of the fondest memories of Ricciardo's career.<\/p>\n

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It was perhaps the greatest result of his fledgling career, and perhaps still is just as good as any of his eight grand prix wins.<\/p>\n

It's been 10 years since then and Ricciardo's career has gone through peaks and troughs, but he's never been able to stand on the podium at his home race again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, no Australian has ever stood on the podium legitimately in the Formula 1 world championship era.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

That weekend marked a new era in F1 with the advent of turbocharged hybrid V6 engines.<\/p>\n

Fresh off Sebastian Vettel winning his fourth world championship with Red Bull, there were great expectations for the team to continue that trend even with the new engine formula.<\/p>\n

In remarkable scenes, Ricciardo upstaged his veteran Red Bull teammate in qualifying. Vettel famously bombed out in Q2 while the hometown hero advanced to Q3.<\/p>\n

There was elation and agony in the grandstands as the chequered flag fell on the final leg of qualifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ricciardo rose to the top with the fastest time but just seconds later was pipped to pole position by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Such was the noise of the hundred-thousand-strong crowd that Ricciardo could hear them over his engine.<\/p>\n

"That was the first year of the hybrids and they were still pretty quiet back then \u2014 I mean, not that they're crazy loud now, but they were definitely quieter," Ricciardo recalled of qualifying, speaking to Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"I remember when I crossed the line and I lifted off the throttle to save fuel, when the revs dropped a bit I could hear something and I was like, 'Oh, this could be quite good!' and then obviously I think it was (Lewis) Hamilton came around and got the pole after me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I just remember that day was crazy because of course I was nervous and whatever \u2013 and it's a wet street circuit pretty much, so it's always kind of sketchy \u2013 and I remember I came in, I think during Q3, I came in to fit inters (intermediate tyres), I got off the extreme (wet tyres) and puts on inters. It was just like, 'Yeah, let's do it, let's go'.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I was so locked in. Maybe I was just young and ignorant, I don't know, but I was just so in a way unfazed by it once I was in the car. I was so comfortable and it was awesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I remember going through the last corner, I understeered a bit and kind of missed the good wet line and I reckon there was at least a couple of tenths in that. So I reckon I was close to pole without that, but I was still so, so stoked on the front row."<\/p>\n

\"Mercedes'<\/p>\n

In a race of attrition, Ricciardo wound up crossing the line in second behind race winner Nico Rosberg for Mercedes and ahead of McLaren's Kevin Magnussen.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton's engine was one of five to fail while two more crashed out on the opening lap in a race of 13 finishers.<\/p>\n

For the first time, fans got to see the famous Cheshire grin on the podium.<\/p>\n

"I was always really glad that I got disqualified after at least the podium," Ricciardo said.<\/p>\n

"So obviously, at the time the podium felt real, you know, the crowd felt real. Obviously it doesn't hold up in the history books, but I would say like \u2013 and I'm not claiming it \u2013 but as a feeling I experienced what an Aussie feels like standing on the Aussie podium, you know what I mean? So I did get that home crowd fricken buzz and that was awesome.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I think Alan Jones was the one presenting the trophies and doing the interviews and it was just a crazy evening."<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

Then came the bad news.<\/p>\n

Five hours after the finish, Ricciardo was disqualified for exceeding the maximum allowed fuel flow. Red Bull unsuccessfully appealed the penalty and the result remained.<\/p>\n

"I remember we were in the debrief with the engineers and then we get handed a piece of paper and we're like, 'Oh, this isn't good' or it was maybe on an email saying we've been called to the stewards," he said.<\/p>\n

"Part of me was like, 'Oh, yeah, maybe it is too good to be true in a way'. All that happened and I was obviously upset. I was definitely upset because it was the fairytale that didn't have the ending."\ufeff<\/p>\n

All was not lost in Ricciardo's eyes.<\/p>\n

He'd beaten his four-time world championship-winning teammate, he'd finished second, and he got to enjoy it all at home.<\/p>\n

"I'd proved so much to myself that weekend and to the team that the result didn't even matter," Ricciardo said.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

"Like the team were so pumped for me and they took a risk on me when they signed me because they knew I was fast but they didn't really know if I could do the job and handle the pressure and whatever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I think them just seeing me put in pretty much like a flawless weekend in my first weekend with the team at home with all the pressure \u2014 I think they were like who cares about the second? We've got ourselves a kid that can really do something with us. We all just had this, like, really nice confidence about us moving forward."<\/p>\n

That year remains the best in Ricciardo's career.<\/p>\n

He won in his seventh race with Red Bull in Canada and twice more in Hungary and Belgium, beating Vettel in the drivers' championship.<\/p>\n

"It was definitely one of my proudest, I think," Ricciardo said of that year's Australian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

"The whole doing it at home was one thing, but yeah that weekend itself gave me so much more self-belief and confidence. That set up maybe my best year in Formula 1, so that was such a pivotal weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"There were just even little things like I remember myself and Hamilton didn't get the best start, but I had like a little look on him in turn one and I got the move done. So even just passing Hamilton into turn one, being a little bit more aggressive on a race start, these were things that I'd really put a lot of pressure on myself to do and be that person coming into that season. Also that kind of just starting the season on the right foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"I was like, 'OK, I can do this'."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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