Ricciardo roars in crazy Formula 1 first

Daniel Ricciardo has roared his way to a spot on the third row of the grid for the British Grand Prix after a sizzling drive during Sunday morning’s first-ever sprint race.

World championship leader Max Verstappen won the inaugural sprint race to take pole position ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished third in the 100km dash around Silverstone, which doubles as qualifying.

Ricciardo was forced to weave his way through the chaos of the midfield battle, but eventually broke free to finish sixth, directly behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who finished fifth.

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Ricciardo jumped up one place after starting the sprint race on the fourth row of the grid.

Both McLaren’s had to produce silky passes on Alpine Racing’s Fernando Alonso.

The Spanish veteran had come from the clouds to get a staggering start off the line to jump through the field on the opening lap, moving from 11th to fifth.

Ricciardo’s impressive overtake will give him plenty of confidence heading into Sunday night’s race.

Ricciardo was able to gain a position after Red Bull’s Sergio Perez spun out. He will start the race from the back of the grid.

“That was quite good fun,” the Aussie told his team.

McLaren’s Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo drives during the sprint session of the Formula One British Grand Prix.Source:AFP

“It’s obviously over pretty quickly, but Alonso having a good start made our race a bit more exciting, so I enjoyed it. The first ten laps were busy, I thought that was cool, so I hope the fans liked it.

“I don’t know what it was like around us, but I hope the order changed up a little bit. I gained a position and start in a better place tomorrow than I started today. That was the aim for today, so I’m looking forward to going out and fighting for more tomorrow.”

Williams’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz were involved in the most dramatic moment of the race. Their racing incident resulted in Russell being handed a three-place grid penalty.

Meanwhile, Verstappen overtook Hamilton during the race in an ominous sign ahead of their battle at the front of the grid.

“We were pushing each other hard as the tyres were blistering a lot,” said Verstappen who collected three points for his win after seeing off his rival by 1.4secs.

Hamilton took two and Bottas one.

“I am happy to have scored the three points and it is funny to say I have scored the pole position too, but we’ll take it,” added the Dutchman.

Hamilton started the 17-lap sprint at the front of the grid having topped qualifying on Friday but was immediately passed by Verstappen.

He admitted he will face a battle to secure a 99th career win in front of around 90,000 fans on Sunday with the main event raced over 52 laps.

“First of all, let me say thank you to the fans, their energy is amazing,” he said.

“I gave it everything today, I’m just sorry I couldn’t win it for them. Tomorrow we will fight again, but Red Bull are just so strong.”

He added: “Verstappen was pulling away and there was nothing I could do to hold on to him. Their starts have been great this year and we’ve lost a bit on our starts and losing position is never a good thing — I wish we could do the start again.”

Official grid for British Grand Prix

Front row: Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) — Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

2nd row: Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) — Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

3rd row: Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) — Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes)

4th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) — Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes)

5th row: Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renault) — Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)

6th row: Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) — George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes)

7th row: Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) — Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes)

8th row: Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) — Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda)

9th row: Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) — Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari)

10th row: Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) — Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda)

— with AFP

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