Ricciardo explains his gutsy Italian passing of Vettel

It was the move of someone bursting with confidence and fueled by the audacity of youth.

Daniel Ricciardo’s manoeuvre to pass Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in the Italian Grand Prix could have ended so badly.

But the perfect execution helped Ricciardo finish fifth and secure third spot on the championship rankings.

Ricciardo started the race in ninth before slipping down to 12th mid-race. Action was needed.

He had the fresher gyres of the pair, having pitted later than his rivals, and this helped him force Vettel to the outside on the second chicane where he passed the German.

“Obviously Seb is smart and I think I’m smart enough, so we kept it clean,” Ricciardo said of their duel.

“He defended well and then I had another chance in the second chicane.

“Sometimes if you do something half-heartedly it can end up worse, so I think it is important to commit to whatever you do.
"I’m sure [Red Bull team principal] Christian [Horner] and a few other guys were holding their breath but we were in control; we know what we are doing.

“I had some good fights out there — I enjoyed that. We fell back a bit at the start and that wasn’t ideal, but it was important we just kept cool.

"The first stint I was able to go long, and even if the pace wasn’t great I was able to keep the prime [tyres] fresh for the end of the race so we knew we would have a chance.”

It was a big result for Ricciardo. Monza is the fastest course of the year and with Red Bull’s lack of speed a fifth place finish was above par.

“At the end, to recover and get a top five (at Monza) — I’m really happy with that,” he said.

"Singapore should be better — if we can get fifth around Monza then we should be able to get on the podium at Singapore. That’s what we’ll aim for.”