'Daniel gets his timing right in Sochi splash to fourth’

Late-race rain spiced up an unusually dramatic Russian Grand Prix, with Daniel playing his cards perfectly to bank 12 world championship points.

The Russian Grand Prix typically doesn't usually provide much in the way of drama, but in keeping with what's been a compelling 2021 season, this year's race around the Sochi Autodrom was full of tension, action and (eventually) chaos, with Daniel driving a smart race to bank fourth place for his best result at the event.

The drama started when rain lashed the seaside circuit to such an extent that the final practice session on Saturday was cancelled, and Daniel negotiated a drying track on slick tyres late in qualifying in his McLaren to bank fifth on the grid – the fourth time he's started from that spot in Russia.

With race day dry (at least initially), Daniel made a superb getaway that was almost too superb, looking like he'd challenge for the lead before slotting into fourth place ahead of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) after lap one.

"It's tough here because it's such a long run to Turn 1, and the launch (at the start) was almost too good!," Daniel grins.

"At one point I had to lift because I was going to lose the slipstream, so I lifted to tuck back in, and then all the initial good work was undone."

Getting ahead of Hamilton defined the first half of Daniel's race, as he kept the reigning world champion at bay for the first 22 laps before pitting for hard tyres for what, at the time, looked like a run to the chequered flag.

Despite a slow pit stop seeing him fall off the back of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, Daniel picked off rival after rival armed with a fast car and fresh Pirellis by making some trademark late-braking passes through the midfield.

"The first stop was a little slow and maybe that cost us a bit, and it might have a made an attack on Sainz a little easier once I got up to the back of him," Daniel says.

"The tyre had kind of gone into that second phase of degradation by then, and I was hoping to put on a good move – I was enjoying Turn 13 a few times!"

Daniel looked set to finish fifth before rain, which had threatened all day in Sochi, started to arrive in the final 10 laps. A few sprinkles turned into a full-on deluge, and Daniel pitted with five laps to go with everything to gain.

"It was definitely the right time for inters (intermediate tyres), at least for me, because I went off on my in-lap at Turn 7 and was trying to survive, really," he says.

"Sector two was the worst, it was 'hold on and hope for the best'.

"Even before then my hard tyres had lost temperature and were pretty beat up, so as soon as the water got on the track I lost whatever temperature was left, so that was confirmation I was coming into the pits."

As some of his rivals stayed out and rolled the dice, Daniel's tyre call proved to be the right one as he splashed home in fourth place, a frustrating three seconds behind Sainz for the final podium place, but content nonetheless with a second strong showing after his win at Monza.

"It was a pretty wild race, a lot happened – sometimes this track doesn't provide that, but this weekend it did with both quali and the race," Daniel says after maintaining eighth place in the drivers' standings.

"In the end, I'm happy with fourth and on paper it's good points. A top four is always a solid result."

Next up in a fortnight's time is Turkey, which was re-introduced to the sport last year in a hastily-reshuffled calendar amended for the pandemic. A newly-resurfaced track, cold November conditions and incessant rain produced a less than satisfying race for everyone, including Daniel who slithered from fifth on the grid to 10th.

"I really hope that it's dry and we can rubber the track in a little bit, and hope that some of the oil in the surface has come up in a year of curing with the weather," Daniel says.

"It is an awesome layout, so I really hope we can attack it this time."