“Honestly, I feel fantastic”, he added.
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Lewis Hamilton says he was unaware his Mercedes team ordered Nico Rosberg to let him past, believing the German had in fact slowed due to a problem, rather than a team order. Jolyon Palmer was the first driver to crash into the barriers, followed by Kimi Räikkönen.
Ricciardo, who also saw victory in Barcelona taken out of his hands after Red Bull changed his strategy, was in no mood to talk after the race, giving a frosty interview on the podium as well as refusing to discuss the events that had unfolded with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Ricciardo, who secured his maiden pole position in Monaco Grand Prix, appeared to be visibly angry after the race, saying he felt hurt to lose the race despite performing well.
Mercedes’ other driver Nico Rosberg looked to have suffered from auto trouble throughout the race, and the German was also bogged down with traffic.
With Rosberg winning the first four races of the season to build a substantial lead in the champion-ship, Mercedes have already had to deny conspiracy theories and the pressure was building. Rosberg is now negotiating an extension of his Mercedes contract beyond the end of this year – with the sticking point rumoured to be whether the deal is just a for one year or several years – but he said it had not played on his mind when he moved aside.
For his part, Hamilton admitted he’d gambled to win, having to finish the race on the ultrasoft tyre as rain threatened to fall again.
But in an astonishing oversight, Red Bull’s crew was not ready.
“Two weeks in a row I have been screwed”.
Speaking to reporters after the race, Horner said they were simply unable to be ready for the Australian before he arrived in the pits.
Rosberg was struggling to get his brakes and tyres up to temperature, and his failure to do so resulted in the order from the pitwall.
“And I earned it today”. But I came here thinking, ‘I’ve just got to go and do it.’ No one’s going to give it to me, it’s not going to come out of thin air, it’s not going to just happen. While the wet stuff did eventually clear and the race wasn’t exactly thrill a minute, it was certainly a tense afternoon for all those watching the most famous race in the sport.
Behind them was Ferrari’s [NYSE:RACE] Sebastian Vettel in fourth and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in fifth.
It topped a hard afternoon for Red Bull with Max Verstappen, the 18-year-old who became the sport’s youngest-ever victor last time out in Spain, failing to reach the chequered flag after a collision with the barriers.
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But the most farcical incident involved Sauber teammates Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.
