Australia's Daniel Ricciardo has again split the Mercedes drivers to claim second in the Singapore Grand Prix, this time falling just short of overhauling Nico Rosberg who has retaken the drivers' title lead.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a race that opened and finished in spectacular style, Ricciardo found himself on the better tyres at the end as he chased down Rosberg to reduce a 20 second gap to half a second at the finish line.
Rosberg drove a controlled race out in front and managed his tyre strategy well, stopping one time less than Ricciardo.
"We have come close on numerous occasions but I am not disappointed," said Ricciardo on the podium.
"We gave it a shot, we got with half a second. It was close. As soon as did a pit stop we thought Nico would come in. I pushed hard on the tyres."
For his part, Rosberg knew Ricciardo was closing.
"Of course Daniel tried to pull one on me at the end but we managed to hold him off – I'm really, really happy," he said. "I couldn't come in at the same time as Daniel because I was in traffic.
"The whole car was on the edge – it always is in Singapore. It's all the more satisfying with a race like that."
Lewis Hamilton finished in third ahead of the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, with the latter having started from the rear of the grid.
Hamilton endured a scrappy race in which he flat-spotted a tyre and ran wide in the middle stages, gifting a place to Raikkonen and ultimately compromising his chances of matching it with Ricciardo at the end. It means Rosberg now leads the championship by eight points.
"This weekend has been a tricky one for me, but I'm just happy to get on the podium and get some points for the team," said a diplomatic Hamilton.
"The brakes were way overheating so I had to slow down. Once I did my second or third stop we managed to sort it out ... I'm still in the fight and I'm going to give it everything I've got."
Having dodged a lizard in practice, the other Red Bull of Max Verstappen did even better to dodge a race-start pile-up when the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg was shunted in front of Verstappen by the two Toro Rossos.
The incident ended Hulkenberg's race and compromised Verstappen's, the latter forced to play catch up from eight position and ultimately finishing seventh.
He was involved in a mid-race battle with the man he replaced at Red Bull, Daniil Kyvat, with the Russian holding his own in the Toro Rosso for several laps until Verstappen's tyre strategy gave him the advantage.
