Podium for Renault DP World F1 Team and Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel climbedthree places from sixth on the grid and held on for the final podium spot byjust over 1.4seconds after a battling display at the wheel of the RenaultR.S.20.

The 2010Belgian Grand Prix was the last time the team was on the podium after RobertKubica’s third place at Spa-Francorchamps.

It was a superbteam effort from pit wall, factory and garage allied with a stellar drive fromthe Australian, who had to battle and dig deep to preserve his tyres throughoutthe 60-lap race in tricky, cold conditions. After gaining a position on lapone, Daniel remained patient before passing Charles Leclerc for fourth with amove on the outside of Turn 2. After Valtteri Bottas pitted, Daniel brieflyheld onto third place, before pitting on lap 16 under the Virtual Safety Carfor Medium tyres.

With othersaround him remaining out during the brief VSC period, Daniel’s plan was tomanage the Medium tyres until the end of the race. And with Sergio Perezpitting later and, therefore on much fresher rubber, Daniel faced a fight onhis hands in the closing stages of the race. But a late Safety Car meant Danielwas gifted the opportunity to pit for Softs and a much smoother run to theflag. Perez put pressure on at the restart, but Daniel held firm, managing thegap to just over a second at the chequered flag.

Team-mateEsteban Ocon retired on lap 23 with a hydraulic issue while running stronglyinside the points. After a difficult start off the line, Esteban recoveredstrongly and was driving well in the top half of the field before hisretirement.

DanielRicciardo, started P6, finished P3:

“Oh wow, itfeels like the first time I ever got a podium. These emotions and that feelingyou get when you get out the car, hug the team, the mechanics slapping you onthe helmet, it’s just amazing and I am so happy we did it! It’s obviously myfirst one with Renault and it’s something I wanted to achieve when I set out onthis journey with the team. It’s been two and a half years since I’ve been inthis press conference too, so it’s been a while for me. I felt like it wascoming with our performances in recent races, so I am so happy to have done it.The race itself was pretty tight and there was some discussion on whether topit for a second stop or not, but we had the luxury of track position. TheSafety Car then gave us an advantage, so we made that call and, in the end, itwas the right one. What a day!”

EstebanOcon, started P7, DNF:

“It’s a fantastic team result today andcongratulations to Daniel and the team for the superb podium. It’s a massiveresult for the Constructors’ Championship – that’s the most important thing –and it also underlines the team’s progression this season. On my side, it waslooking decent to be honest and we were definitely in line for a top fivefinish. I did not have the best start but on the first stint, I was managingthe tyre quite well and we were in a good place. I basically lost steering,brakes and gears and it’s a hydraulic issue, which we’ll investigate. It’s ashame, but we’ll come back from it and we look forward to the next race.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal:

“It’s a great feeling that and I would like to share this emotion wehad at the track with every team member. It’s been a huge, huge journey to gethere and today is a milestone. We earned that podium: we’ve seen it coming forsome time. We have had the potential to be there and today we had the rightcircumstances. While we might need events in front to happen, we have a carthat is a good all-rounder and when this type of opportunity comes, we have theright team to capitalise. Daniel drove a great race and fully deserved this –we will have to see about that bet now! It is a bit bittersweet as only one carwas at the finish line. Esteban was driving a solid race until his cardeveloped a hydraulic issue and we had to retire him. Without it we could havegot a huge points result, which is very important as reliability is what willeventually define the championship in Abu Dhabi. But for now, we need tocelebrate and enjoy this moment as it is a moment that matters in the life ofthe team.”