Ricciardo avoids drama to take podium in Singapore

The Australian watched all the drama unfold in front of him as his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen was involved in a collision with both Ferraris before the first corner, eliminating all three.

Championship hopeful Lewis Hamilton capitalised by taking not only the lead but the win but extending his lead in the championship, while Ricciardo kept the Brit in sight but was unable to mount a challenge for the victory.

Ricciardo had led the way in free practice on Friday, but was unable to match the pace of the Mercedes in wetter conditions during Sunday's race, but a gearbox problem later in the race halted his challenge and he had to settle for second.

“The rain made it all pretty hectic today," he said. "Everyone was in the same boat though and we hadn’t driven in the wet here before so it’s all about switching on early, being aware of the situation and trying to adapt as quick as you can.

"My start was quite slow off the line. In hindsight probably a good thing, because it allowed the chaos to unfold in front of me. Then in the first few laps I felt we were okay in the wet but then I felt we were a bit harsh on the tyres. Even when we pitted and had fresher tyres, we couldn’t really make an impact on Lewis.

"The team was asking me to manage the gears through the race and after I learned we had a leak and were losing oil pressure in the gearbox from early on.

"Of course I came here to win and really wanted it, but second place is great and I’m not going to complain about it.”