The 2023 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix takes place this weekend where Red Bull’s now third driver, Daniel Ricciardo, took a stunning maiden victory back in 2014.
The world champion was nowhere. Sebastian Vettel, who’d seen off all comers – and in conspicuous manner at Malaysia 2013, including his team-mate Mark Webber – to win four consecutive titles was being hammered in his Red Bull RB10.
The Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had split every pole and victory in all six of the season’s races by the time the championship arrived at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, in early June.
Vettel’s hopes for a fifth consecutive title appeared dashed – yet there was a problem closer to home for the German, a big-grinning, plucky Western Australian named Daniel Ricciardo.
Formula 1 drivers are compared to their team-mates above all else, and here Vettel was being overrun by the driver that replaced a retiring Webber.
In Canada, the Mercedes drivers’ dominance continued in Saturday’s qualifying, the F1 W05 locking out the front row with Rosberg on pole. Vettel, though, showed his class and parked his RB10 in third, ahead of the two Mercedes-powered Williams then Ricciardo in a reasonable sixth.
Yet Sunday June 8, 2014, belonged to Daniel Ricciardo.
There were no signs that it would the Australian’s day to begin with, as Vettel slotted in between the two bickering Mercedes on the opening lap. Ricciardo sat behind the Williams duo, whose straight-line advantage around the 4.361km circuit was most noticeable on the lengthy Casino Straight, and helped keep his yellow-nosed Red Bull behind.
A Safety Car was called after the two Marussia entries came together at the start, which saw Jules Bianchi out of the race, and once the race returned to green on Lap 7, race leader Rosberg built up a slight advantage as Hamilton passed Vettel to get back into second place.
Riccardo pitted on Lap 13 in a bid to jump the two Williams – with Valtteri Bottas having passed team-mate Felipe Massa – ahead of him. Williams responded, but Ricciardo managed to jump Massa, who had to wait for Bottas’ stop, before both he and Bottas began inching closer towards Vettel.
Up-front the two Mercedes continued a messy race, with Rosberg cutting the chicane on Lap 25 after locking up his front left as Hamilton piled on the pressure.
That wasn’t Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff’s only problem, though.
“I’ve lost power – I’ve got no power guys!” came Hamilton over the radio, before Rosberg dropped almost four seconds with the same issue, the German driver the pit wall responding, “We’re trying to solve it – we believe your team-mate has the same problem.”
The time loss saw both Hamilton and Rosberg fall back behind Massa’s Williams, which assumed the race lead on Lap 46 before the Brazilian’s final stop – team-mate Bottas suffering brake heat issues, too, falling down the order – the Mercedes drivers repeatedly swapping places as the intra-team rivalry also heated up.
The second round of stops had seen Ricciardo leave pit lane to jump Vettel, who’d lost time behind both a hard-tyred (soft versus super-soft) Hulkenberg and after he re-joined behind the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.
That saw the Australian fifth behind the Mercedes duo, Massa’s Williams (which was running long) and Sergio Perez’s Force India that was on a one-stop strategy, having made its stop on Lap 34, giving it track position.
Hamilton retired with braking issues on Lap 46, with Ricciardo elevated to third behind Perez and Rosberg after Massa stopped on Lap 46.
Yet the Red Bull driver patiently managed his final set of soft tyres before the party kicked off on Lap 66 of the 70-lapper when the Aussie shot down the inside of Perez into the first chicane, scrambling through for second place.
The Honey Badger then started cutting down Rosberg’s 1.2-second advantage, the Mercedes’ overheating and braking issues making him easy meat for the Red Bull, which snatched the lead in the braking zone ahead of the final chicane and ‘Champions Wall’.
“Nobody can overtake you; you’re going to win the race – just stay positive on the delta mate,” was the message Ricciardo heard as he closed in on the first of his eight grands prix wins.
The grinning Red Bull driver would win again that season, in Hungary and Belgium, finishing third in championship behind the two Mercedes drivers, while Vettel was winless in his final year with Red Bull, moving to Ferrari for 2015.
“The race really came to life the last 15-20 laps,” Ricciardo told 1995 Canadian GP winner Jean Alesi on the podium after his first victory.
“We finally got a run out of the last chicane and made a nice move into Turn 1 and then set my sights on Nico, and yeah, couple of laps to go just found myself in the right spot to get the DRS – an amazing feeling right now, really grateful for this.”
More: Ricciardo explains third driver deal.
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