Belgian Grand Prix Not A Bad Day For Daniel Ricciardo

The recently concluded 2024 Belgian Grand Prix was quite a race. While on the one hand, the Grand Prix, etched in the most picturesque part of the Belgian Ardennes forest, produced no dearth of racing action with the likes of Mercedes’, McLarens and even the Ferraris making great moves at some point, the race result, in itself, was quite a revelation on the other hand.

And as it turned out, while George Russell, originally the winner of the race was soon dubbed disqualified (owing to a weight irregularity of the Mercedes machine), it was victory in the end for a certain seven-time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton.

And while in the end, the action at Spa did turn out to be a bittersweet moment for the Toto Wolff-led Mercedes team, the Grand Prix didn’t unfurl a win just for the Mercedes team.

Truth be told, all thanks to the revised leadership board and subsequent driver standing at the conclusion of the stewards’ enquiry into the Belgian Grand Prix, the 44-lap contest turned out to be a tiny victory of sorts for Daniel Ricciardo.

The under fire Australian driver from Perth, who has been facing constant scrutiny thanks to a loss of form and the inability to come up with something worth noting in that junior RB team was able to score a point.

As per the revised driver standings at the conclusion of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix with Russell removed altogether from the list of the twenty drivers who took part in the race, all drivers on the grid made a move upward.

This, therefore, meant that Daniel Ricciardo, who had finished in eleventh but just a touch over 2.5 seconds shy of Esteban Ocon (in tenth), found himself on P10 in the end.

And while it was just a solitary point for the usually chirpy Australian racer, it did meant that he emerged the only driver to have scored any points, whatsoever, in the event with teammate Yuki Tsunoda down in sixteenth.

Interestingly, last year at Spa, it was Yuki Tsunoda who had secured a fighting tenth in the end in an effort that was dubbed hard fought.

Though, on the whole, Spa’s point scoring finish means a heck of a deal for Daniel Ricciardo who has found himself too short of points for much of this season.

But how so?

As a matter of fact, of the fourteen races to have taken place this year, Daniel Ricciardo has scored points in just three of the Grands Prix, the other two besides Spa-Francorchamps being Austria and Canada.

Ricciardo scored his best-finish as on date in 2024 at Canada when he bagged a fighting eighth. His teammate scored a fourteenth in that event.

But having said that, for now, Ricciardo’s main aim would be to multiply the possibility of scoring points and to do that with a bit more consistency. He’s been linked to a possible Red Bull seat, the likelihood of which seems a bit unlikely at this time. What do you reckon?