The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix was hardly a classic, far from it - it was slammed as 'boring' by veteran drivers Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso
With the race low on exciting overtaking or high-octane competitiveness, they may have had a point
However, one man who will remember the race forever is Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian, well-liked by all in F1 for his huge smile, affable personality and impressive talent, won his maiden victory in Monte Carlo after a weekend which showcased his driving skill in a number of ways
Ricciardo recorded the fastest times in every practice session on Thursday and Saturday, and in qualifying became the first ever racer to lap the circuit in under 71 seconds
With pole secured - more important in Monaco than any other GP, given how tough it is to overtake - and clearly in the fastest car, it should have been a 78-lap procession for the Aussie
While he did win, however, things were not quite that simple. For 50 laps he had to hold off Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in a car which had suffered a drastic loss of engine power
He lost the MGU-K, the engine system which recovers energy from the rear axle and redeploys it
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner afterwards said it cost Ricciardo 25 per cent of his engine power, 12 miles per hour, or about 225bhp
Essentially, Ricciardo won despite the equivalent of a VW Golf falling out the back of his car
He was driving without his top two gears, in echoes of Michael Schumacher coming second in 1994 despite his Bennetton being stuck in fifth gear
Now, this comes with the caveat that this won would not have been possible on any other circuit in the F1 calendar
On no other track is it so tricky to overtake. On no other track do drivers go up to five seconds a lap slower than they are capable in order to conserve their tyres on a one-stop strategy
However, given Ricciardo was three seconds a lap ahead of Vettel before his power trouble, and then had to deal with a four-time world champion up his jacksie for the rest of the race, it took a huge amount of talent to hold onto the lead - not to mention psychological power
As Horner said on the team radio: 'Unbelievable. You have done an amazing job today
That is right up there with what Schumacher did in 1994 and this is payback for 2016
' Ricciardo has had nightmares in the principality before. In the 2016 edition alluded to above, he was pole-sitter, however a bungled pit-stop saw him fall to second behind Hamilton
A lesser racer might have felt a sense of deja-vu as his engine lost power, and allowed themselves to be swallowed up by the chasing pack
But Ricciardo is not such a racer - he is a champion in terms of talent, if not silverware
There is the rub. For all Ricciardo celebrated by drinking champagne from his Red Bull-branded shoe and dived into the team's rooftop pool, there remains every chance this will be his last Monaco GP with this outfit
His contract expires in the winter, and talk of a move to Mercedes or Ferrari - who look the most capable teams of delivering Ricciardo a first driver's championship - will not go away
Of course, Ricciardo can still win the title this season - after Monaco he is just 38 points off leader Hamilton with 15 races to go - but it feels like he is a definite dark horse, the outsider to Vettel and the Brit
Even if Ricciardo does win the crown, there is no guarantee he stays at Red Bull, where he has raced since 2014
Ferrari are set to have a free seat when Kimi Raikkonen hangs up his helmet. Valtteri Bottas' deal at Mercedes ends after 2018 and a renewal is very much in the balance
Ricciardo is 28. He knows this may be his final chance of a big, potentially career defining move
For all the big toothed grins, he is as ruthless as any F1 driver, as sharp-eyed when it comes to spotting an opportunity
Speaking to Sportsmail on Thursday, ex-Red Bull driver Mark Webber warned his fellow Aussie that Red Bull is a 'world class operation' and he may find the grass is not always greener should he leave
'If Daniel gets opportunities to go elsewhere with a faster car on more circuits around the world, he is going to do that
That won't be easy though, because he's in a sensational team,' he said. 'If they stay together they have to get him in a winning position, consistently challenging for victories which is a while off yet because of the engine situation
But it's certainly manageable.' Webber's words have echoes of a football fan in denial that their star player is about to be snapped up by a richer, more successful rival
He was speaking about engine trouble before Sunday, and Ricciardo having to win at Monaco in fourth gear
Ricciardo is a winner, as he proved in Monte Carlo, and capable of doing so in almost any F1 car
Which colour he drives in for 2019 is a question of which we eagerly await the answer
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