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Daniel Ricciardo's driving skills have taken a beating in the last few weeks since Zak Brown came out in the media and admitted McLaren wasn't happy with the level he was performing at. Since then, the Australian has had a rather disastrous Monaco GP where he was once again completely outclassed by his teammate Lando Norris and the speculation of him leaving McLaren gained even more steam.
That wasn't always the case with the Australian though. Ricciardo was once upon a time considered to be one of the best drivers on the grid. Someone who would make the most of any opportunity given to him and win races from unlikely positions.
The scene of one of those brilliant drives was the 2017 Azerbaijan GP!
Context
It wasn't all plain sailing for Daniel Ricciardo that weekend as an early crash relegated him to a P10 starting position. Things got even worse once the race was underway as Ricciardo had to pit early to clear debris off his front wing.
This relegated the driver to P17, and it was at this point in the race that Ricciardo scripted a comeback. Picking off cars one by one, the Australian progressed through the field while multiple cars kept suffering accidents and falling away.
Max Verstappen and Jolyon Palmer had already retired when the Safety Car and Red Flags allowed Ricciardo to close back up to the pack. Before the red flag restart on lap 22 (that had drama ahead in the field between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton), Ricciardo was in 6th position behind Felipe Massa, Lance Stroll, and Nico Hulkenberg.
Daniel Ricciardo's Triple Overtake
Struggling with suspension issues, Felipe Massa was getting attacked on the long main straight at the restart by his teammate Lance Stroll on the left and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg on the right.
Right behind them, Daniel Ricciardo benefitted from the massive tow generated by the three cars and in one of the most unlikely moves, threw his car down the inside of Turn 1.
There was just a hint of lock-up of the tires at Turn 1 as the Australian, to the surprise of everyone, got the jump on Stroll, Massa, and Hulkenberg in a single move. The move was spectacular and in a way gave credence to the claims that Ricciardo was the best overtaker in F1 at the time.
What happened afterward?
After the overtake Daniel Ricciardo found himself 3rd behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. The race had settled down at this stage as the drivers began to pull away from the rest of the field. There was still more drama in store, however, as Hamilton's headrest came loose all of a sudden. He initially tried to fix the problem himself by pulling it down on the straights but the Mercedes driver was forced to pit to make the changes.
Concurrently, race control awarded Vettel a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for ramming his car to the side of Hamilton during the safety car period. Consequently, Ricciardo was at the front with a clear path ahead.
The Australian kept the lead until the end and won a crazy race in Baku! It was a race that proved to everyone that Ricciardo could do anything with the right car underneath him.
5 years on, Daniel Ricciardo returns to the same place with a car he's not comfortable in and in a team that's not happy with him. Oh, how the times have changed!
