Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) McLaren MCL36 Mercedes on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Singapore. (Image via Getty Images/Clive Rose)

"He was lucky" - Fans take a dig at Daniel Ricciardo despite his P5 finish at 2022 F1 Singapore GP

By Gunaditya Tripathi

Modified Oct 03, 2022 16:11 IST

Daniel Ricciardo finished in P5 at the Singaporean Grand Prix after showcasing a consistent drive throughout the race. While Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and yellow flags kept flashing on the track with every driver error and spin, Ricciardo managed to complete the race with minimal problems.

The soft tire compounds were a major help for him in achieving this, and his tire conservation skills helped him as he had those softs on for around 25 laps. He finished right behind Lando Norris in the other McLaren, and it turned out to be a good weekend for the team despite both the drivers' starting positions.

ESPN F1

@ESPNF1

P16 P5

Danny Ric had himself a race

Daniel Ricciardo once again had a tough qualifying. He was eliminated at the end of Q1 and started the race P16. He was driving consistently and the multiple safety cars saw him in make-up positions.

The Australian did not pit anytime before lap 36, which was one of the final stops of the race. Given it was going to be his only stop, soft tires were put on his car. He took them to the end of the race, and although he was 30 seconds behind Norris, he kept the position and ended up P5. This is one of the best performances Ricciardo has had in the past couple of races.

Fans doubt Daniel Ricciardo's driving; call him 'lucky'

After the race, many commented on his finish. Since his driving has been relatively poor throughout the season, it was hard to believe that he had finished right behind Norris. However, people on Twitter seemed to be unimpressed and gave all the credits to his “luck” instead of driving skills.

🅻🅴🅾

@Thi5Leo

@ESPNF1 He did nothing for whole race. He's so lucky

Peter

@aussiepie19

@notathome1900 @ESPNF1 All luck 🤔 I didn’t see him crash out or spin out or get into any trouble. How many crashed out because of the conditions?

Cecilio Alopezias

@CecilioLpez6

@ESPNF1 30s behind norris. Lame drive ngl

Danny

@DannyB_4

@ESPNF1 I mean all he did was drive around super slowly while everyone crashed around him.

Mark Witham

@markwithamuk

@ESPNF1 Well he didn't did he. He got lucky with safety car timing 🙄

Erick

@IvyErick3

@ESPNF1 He was lucky with the 6 dnfs and with the safety car, but he still survived the race without doing mistakes, well done Ricciardo

Gunaditya Tripathi

@Guni1202

people can't accept the fact that Daniel Ricciardo had a safe drive and made it to P5 without crashing

This is Daniel Ricciardo's final season with the team and post this, he will be replaced by Oscar Piastri. His time with McLaren hasn't been any closer to great, given the only "highlight" he had was in Monza in 2021 after winning the race. Currently, no team has offered him a seat for next year and in context to that, the Australian had revealed that he would be okay if he had to take a break next year and come back with a stronger team in the 2024 season.

Edited by
Sabine Algur