Ricciardo reveals red flag saved podium after wing damage
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that his second-place finish in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa owed much to him being able to repair his front wing during the red flag for Kevin Magnussen's accident.
Although he wasn't directly involved in the first-corner clash between the Ferraris and his teammate Max Verstappen, Ricciardo picked up damage to his front wing from the debris.
"The start was a bit of a mess in front, so it was important to stay smart and keep out of trouble," he said.
"We picked up some damage actually from all the debris from the Ferraris and Max, the front wing was damaged. Up until the red flag I was struggling.
"I asked the team if they could see anything as I was driving by, because I felt the car wasn't driving normal. But the red flag allowed us to repair that.
"From that point, I tried to put some pressure on Nico [Rosberg, race victor] but he was a bit too fast. So it was all about keeping Lewis behind, and we did that.
"I felt that was the best we can do today, happy – very pleased."
No chance to beat Rosberg
When asked if he could've done anything different on tyre strategy to take the fight to winner Rosberg, he added: "Nico went medium-medium, and we didn't have two mediums available so we had no choice other than to go soft-medium.
"After the restart, on the medium I was able to stay with Nico for a few laps, but as the medium continues the soft starts to drop away.
"We were consistent on the medium on the last stint, not as quick as Nico but quick enough to manage to gap to Lewis."
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