Daniel Ricciardo earns Monaco redemption with 'Apollo 13 drive'

"There is nothing you can say to make that any better, just save it."

That was Daniel Ricciardo's team radio to Red Bull on the cool-down lap of the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, where a strategy mistake cost the Australian the victory he desired the most. 

In wet conditions, Ricciardo had changed from full wets to the inters whilst Lewis Hamilton was attempting to go from full wets straight to slicks, and eliminate the need for a second stop. 

Hamilton pitted on Lap 31 to change to the slicks, but Ricciardo responded with a stunning in-lap which would have allowed him to easily maintain the lead, but Red Bull dropped the ball. 

The team was not ready for the stop, costing Ricciardo precious seconds whilst the tyres were located and fitted. He finished second. 

Two years later, Ricciardo was back and meant business after Ferrari dominated the 2017 event, Sebastian Vettel winning for the second time. 

Ricciardo put in one of the strongest weekend performances ever seen in F1 to walk away with his redemption - but fate once again nearly snatched it from him. 

Ricciardo's Monaco redemption

Ricciardo topped all three practice sessions, all three qualifying segments and his biggest challenger in the Principality had kindly eliminated himself in final practice.

Max Verstappen crashed heavily at the exit of the Swimming Pool in a move every driver has come close to doing at least once - just ask Charles Leclerc - and was ruled out of qualifying.

This gave Ricciardo a clear run at pole - and to Turn 1, where he comfortably led the charge up Beau Rivage into Casino Square.

On lap 28 of 78, he reported a loss of power to the team, with it turning out the MGU-K had failed, robbing him of 25% of power and two gears. In other words, he had a severely wounded car, which at any other track would have led to Red Bull calling him in to retire.

But Christian Horner and Adrian Newey decided that as they were in the lead of the Monaco GP, they would go until the engine blew up. 

Fortunately, it did not as Ricciardo managed the challenge of Vettel from behind to secure the win he craved above all others.

Post-race, Horner claimed that Ricciardo could have been in Apollo 13, a reference to the April 1970 lunar landing mission aborted after an oxygen tank exploded on the way to the moon. 

Astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise were forced to shut down their command module and use their lunar module as a lifeboat, only just returning alive to Earth. 

As for Ricciardo, he would take his long overdue dip in Red Bull famous swimming pool on the floating energy station. It was arguably the peak of his F1 career.