Ricciardo calls third place surreal and seduces Lewis Hamilton | Motorsport

And unlike in Germany, the Australian did not forget his ritual of drinking champagne from his shoe. Even winner Lewis Hamilton took a sip. “This podium place was even more unexpected than at the Nürburgring”, says the cheerful Ricciardo. “Twice on the podium in three races … It’s quite surreal.”

Ricciardo took advantage of Verstappen’s withdrawal in Imola and the fact that Sergio Pérez was brought in by Racing Point during the safety car situation for a second stop. On the hardest tire, Ricciardo narrowly kept off attacking Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri) in the last laps.

“I didn’t know where he came from. Fortunately I was able to keep it up ”, said Ricciardo. His team boss Cyril Abiteboul had previously agreed with him to get a tattoo at a podium spot, but was there like the chickens on Sunday to tell his driver (next year driving for McLaren) that he will not have another one. Ricciardo: “But maybe someone else on the team will, who knows.”

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