Ricciardo hoped for inexperience Albon: "Wanted to keep pressure on him"

Daniel Ricciardo drove a great race and he was almost rewarded with a podium. That podium eventually went to Alexander Albon, who was able to attack the Renault in his quicker RB16, to Ricciardo's dismay.

The Australian finished third in the race at Mugello last Sunday but had to acknowledge his superior in Albon in the final part of the race. "It was frustrating to see Albon's speed. It felt like we were equal in speed at the first and second stints, maybe we were even a little faster on the soft at the start of the race. And then suddenly he drove a lot faster and especially in the third sector it felt like he was faster. That's why he was able to overtake me with DRS and a slipstream".

Ricciardo knows what it's like to win races, let alone make it to the podium. Sneakily there was a hope that Australian Albon could hold off on his first podium because the tension might start to play a role. "In the back of my mind I thought, "Okay this guy has never made it to the podium". I can try anything like keeping him under pressure so he had to keep a high pace and then hopefully something would happen," Ricciardo told Motorsport.com.

In the end, Albon kept his cool and drove his Red Bull to third place. With this, Albon secured his first podium in Formula 1.