Ricciardo is all smiles

The happiest person in F1 come rain or shine is always Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo.

The Aussie has a smile to light up a room, especially when his team performs well.

In China, Red Bull Racing certainly did that. They outperformed themselves in qualifying with Ricciardo qualifying on the front row of the grid and then due to an excellent start Ricciardo led the Grand Prix.

Unfortunately though it was short lived, he was about to lose the race lead to the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg regardless, but a rear tyre blow out then cost him all hope of a deserved podium.

?There was some incidents on the first lap so I saw some debris, but it didn?t seem like I caught a big bit or anything, so [the puncture] was pretty unexpected, I guess it was unlucky, and then the safety car put us even further back, so that was a double whammy – it felt like getting punched in the stomach by a heavyweight. Ricciardo told formula1.com.

But not one to concentrate on the negatives, Ricciardo was keen to look forward especially with the potential the 2016 Red Bull Racing car appears to have.

?From there it was probably the best race of my career.’

?Every weekend we?ve shown a strength we didn?t think we would have – we have potential, and [the season] definitely feels more like 2014 Really promising for sure.

?I felt I could have been spraying champagne, but part of me is still smiling because we?ll get other opportunities.?