2015 Chinese Grand Prix: Daniel Ricciardo Earns A 9th Place Finish

Red Bull Australian racing driver Daniel Ricciardo fought hard to earn points in the third race of the current Formula One season. Ricciardo claimed two points after finishing the race in the ninth place.

Ricciardo, who was seventh on the grid, had a terrible start during the race. He struggled in the beginning and watched other cars stormed past him as soon as the red lights had gone out. He found his way back in the 17^th place.

Ricciardo then found himself trailing behind teammate Daniil Kvyat, who started the race in the 12^th position. Kvyat was instructed not to fight Ricciardo and let the 25-year-old Australian overtake on the fifth lap, but the Russian didn’t seem willing to follow the team’s order. Ricciardo was finally able to get past Kvyat at Turn 7 to get to the the 14^th place.

After his battle with Kvyat, Ricciardo found himself racing behind Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr several times. He was on the brink of overtaking Nasr for the eighth spot during the last lap when the safety car appeared until finish, forcing him to settle in the ninth spot.

"Some positives are that we learned a few areas where we need to improve and the smart guys in the team can find a solution," Daniel said via Red Bull’s official site. "I had a little battle with Daniil, I don't know if I was optimistic in trying to get past, we were on different race strategies but we'll sort it out in the debrief.

According to Ricciardo, the team “underachieved” at the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix. However, he is hopeful that they will get a better result in the fourth round at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which takes place from April 17 to April 19, 2015. Ricciardo is now at the eighth place in the Drivers’ Standings with a total of 11 points.

Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner admitted that the results in Shanghai weren’t the ones they were hoping to achieve. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton took his second Grand Prix trophy for the season after defending his title at the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took the second and third spots in the podium, respectively.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix Final Leaderboard (Driver/Team/Time/Points)

1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:39:42.008 - 25

2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - +0.714 - 18

3. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - +2.988 - 15

4. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - +3.835 - 12

5. Felipe Massa – Williams - +8.544 - 10

6. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - +9.885 - 8

7. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - +19.008 - 6

8. Felipe Nasr – Sauber - +22.625 - 4

9. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull - +32.117 - 2

10. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - -180.246 - 1

11. Sergio Perez - Force India - -180.158 - 0