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3. Dan's the Man at Monza!
It had been a long and winding road for Daniel Ricciardo since he had last claimed a Grand Prix victory in Monaco in 2018. Feeling increasingly sidelined at Red Bull in favour of Max Verstappen, he had taken the shock decision to leave the team for Renault at the end of that season. However that first year at Enstone hadn't lived up to expectations, even before the rumours began that the French manufacturer might be reconsidering its future in Formula 1. When McLaren came calling very early in the spring of 2020 soliciting him to take over from Carlos Sainz (who had been snapped up by Ferrari) for 2021, he had to make an on-the-spot decision about his future - and opted for Woking. The rest of his remaining time at Renault proved bitter sweet, as he went from strength to strength to pick up breakthrough podiums for the team at Eifel and Emilia Romagna. It had all started to come together - but too late to change things.
When he arrived at McLaren at the start of this year it looked like a case of one step forward and two steps back for him. Although at a stronger squad, he was once again struggling with the transition to a new team and car. Far from overpowering his young team mate Lando Norris as many had expected, Ricciardo found himself second best in the driver line-up and frustrated at not delivering at his best. Against this background the Formula 1 circus arrived in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, the 14th race of the season.
Ricciardo was just pipped by Norris in qualifying, but this was one of the three weekends of the year trialling sprint races. That opportunity enabled him to gain multiple positions and move ahead of Norris to start the Grand Prix on the front row, fittingly alongside his old nemesis and former team mate Verstappen. Ricciardo flew past the Red Bull at the start while Lewis Hamilton overtook Norris, which meant the title rivals were running second and third, locked in a fierce duel that would come to a crunching end on lap 26. With Verstappen and Hamilton out of the picture, the two McLarens were now in control of proceedings. The team had no intention of risking this precious bounty and Norris was ordered to hold station rather than challenge for the lead, allowing Ricciardo to claim his long overdue eighth career win while Norris had to bide his time.
