2020 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, Sunday

On a thrillingfinal lap, Daniel eased home in fourth position and claimed one extra point forthe Fastest Lap of the race with Esteban pulling off a fine overtake on AlexAlbon at Les Combes to match his best result in Formula 1 in fifth.

On the one-yearanniversary since Anthoine Hubert’s tragic accident at this circuit, today’sresult certainly is a fitting tribute to the late Frenchman.

Both driversmade solid starts with Esteban passing Albon on the run out of La Source whileDaniel put pressure on Max Verstappen into Turn 5.

As the racesettled both drivers occupied fourth and fifth. A safety car on lap 10 meantboth cars double stacked for Hard tyres with Esteban dropping a place to Albonin the pits.

Daniel beganprogressing his way back up to fourth with Esteban locked in a tight battle forfifth, which he was able to snatch on the final lap of the race.

Today’s resultis the team’s highest points haul from a Grand Prix weekend since returning tothe sport in 2016.

Daniel Ricciardo, started P4, finished P4 + FastestLap:

“What a race and definitely an excellent result forthe team. We had a lot of pace today and fourth is a strong result. It’s been awhile since I’ve had the fastest lap of the race, so that was also nice. Myengineer told me what the current fastest was and I thought ‘I got this’! Itwas a proper big lap; I used all the track and went for it. Maybe it was betterthan my qualifying lap yesterday! This was a good track for us last year andMonza was even better. We’ll see what happens, but we can go there with a lotof confidence.”

EstebanOcon, started P6, finished P5:

“That fifthplace was ours today, so I’m very happy to secure it on the last lap. It’sfantastic for the team to have fourth and fifth today, we’ve been quick allweekend and fighting with the top cars. The race was pretty solid, we got Albonat the start and then lost it at the pit-stop. The guys did a great job on thestop, so we’ll see where we missed out there. From there we had to keep workinghard, close the gap and then find a pass at the end. It’s positive that the caris performing well at these tracks, so we can go to Monza feeling ready to goagain.”

Cyril Abiteboul,Team Principal:

“Today’s resultis dedicated to Anthoine Hubert who we think of on this particular weekend. Weknew Spa would suit our package and there were big points at stake. We executedour plan all the way through the weekend. While we’re satisfied with today, wehave to stay focused. It’s the same car that failed to be in the top ten inBarcelona and that shows a lack of consistency for competitiveness andimproving this will have to be our priority. In addition to the strongfinishing positions that brings us closer to the teams ahead in thechampionship, the fastest lap today by Daniel rounds off in style the resultand I see that as a reward to everyone in Viry who has been working so hard forseveral years to get on top of the complexity of the power unit. We’llcelebrate a little bit to give us the energy to attack what’s coming next, butour focus is already on Monza and the milestone of the change to the qualifyingmode that we must prepare with the highest possible care.”