MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo wins Monaco F1 Grand Prix

In Australia's finest few hours in international car racing this century, Daniel Ricciardo has won the Monaco Grand Prix and Will Power has won the Indianapolis 500.

The 37-year-old Power, from Toowoomba, is the first Australian to triumph in the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' and he gave team owner Roger Penske his 17th win in the American classic – a record unlikely ever to be anywhere near matched.

Hours earlier Ricciardo was victorious on the tight streets of Monaco with a car that was down on power for the last two-thirds of the grandest GP of all, restricting him to six of his Red Bull-Renault RB14's eight gears.

It was sweet redemption for Ricciardo after having success stolen from him there two years ago when his pit crew did not have the right tyres ready for him when he pitted while leading.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner called last night's performance of the carsales.com.au global ambassador from Perth "phenomenal".

The energy drink company's demanding motorsport director Helmut Marko said no other driver could have done what 28-year-old Ricciardo just had.

His seventh Formula 1 win – and second this season – was the best of his career.

Ricciardo dominated every practice session, then qualifying, and in the race consigned two four-time world champions, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, to the lower steps of the podium.

He is now third in the world championship – 38 points behind Hamilton and 24 behind Vettel, that pair also two-time winners in the six GPs so far this season.

Ricciardo's ahead of the other Merc driver, Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's second man, Kimi Raikkonen – and his appeal as a replacement for either of those next year has just been magnified.

Ricciardo has more than twice the points of teammate Max Verstappen, who crashed in final practice and missed qualifying because his car could not be fully repaired in time, although the 20-year-old went some way to redeeming himself by coming from last to ninth in the race, setting the fastest lap – albeit 3.45 seconds slower than Ricciardo's pole position time.

The Australian's best qualifying lap, as it was two years ago, was reminiscent of Ayrton Senna, while his precision throughout the weekend was a reminder of Alain Prost. Horner likened his race drive to that of Michael Schumacher in Barcelona in 1994, when Schumacher's Benetton car, also powered by a Renault engine became stuck in fifth gear and the German finished second to Damon Hill.

But perhaps the driver Ricciardo is most like is the original brilliant Brazilian, Emerson Fittipaldi, with his ability to "nurse" his machinery and show his delight at doing his job impeccably.

Ricciardo became the third Aussie to win the Monaco GP after late triple world champion Sir Jack Brabham in 1959 and Mark Webber in 2010 and '12 (and 18-year-old Tasmanian Alex Peroni won a Formula Renault Eurocup race on the same streets this weekend!).

Ricciardo said his sweetest success had been "two years in the making".

"We had problems... we had a lot to deal with during the race. Before halfway I felt a loss of power and I thought the race was done, but we got home just using six gears," he said.

"I'm stoked. Wow. It was a perfect weekend, but a crazy race.

"When it was clear I had an issue with the MGU-K [the motor generator unit which harvests kinetic energy through engine braking] I wanted to close my eyes and start crying.

"I thought the race was over and I wondered just what I have to do to win here.

"I spoke with my engineer on the radio and we changed a lot of things that didn't fix the problem, but we just had to survive and keep Seb behind.

"We had a lot less power, but fortunately it's a tight track and we had a good car, so I could make up enough time in the corners not to be vulnerable on the straights.

"On any other circuit, there was no way I would have won.

"It wasn't fun driving like that and I'm pretty exhausted, but very, very happy. This is the sweetest feeling."

Horner said MGU-K failure "creates all kinds of issues with cooling, with brake and tyre temperatures", but Ricciardo had managed it "in the calmest of manners" while defending against Vettel, who was about a second behind him a lot of the time until dropping back after a late virtual safety car.

"I never believed with approximately a 25 per cent loss of power that he would hold the lead for another 50 laps and win our 250th grand prix," Horner said.

"The day and the entire race weekend has belonged to Daniel."

Next up is the Canadian GP in Montreal on June 8-10.

All Power at The Brickyard – now for mega pay day

Will Power's celebration after winning the Indianapolis 500 was the best since Mark Webber's first GP win in 2010 – and a huge pay day now awaits him tomorrow.

"I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" Power screamed in victory lane at The Brickyard, having achieved what he came within metres of doing in 2015, when runner-up in the 500 to Juan Pablo Montoya.

He repeatedly pumped his fists as he climbed from his cockpit, took the traditional sip of the winner's milk, then dumped the rest over his head.

And 81-year-old Roger Penske said of the Queenslander, one of his four drivers in the classic: "He won this race today because he was the best."

Power led 59 of the 200 laps but his final pit stop dropped him to fourth.

Then Tony Kanaan crashed with 12 laps to go, Oriel Servia made a poor restart and Brits Stefan Wilson – brother of the late Justin, killed in an IndyCar crash in 2015 – and Jack Harvey dashed to the pits for fuel, handing Power the lead again four laps from the chequered flag.

He knew he had it in the bag on the final lap and kept yelling to himself as he drove away from the field.

"I was wondering if I would ever win it [this was his 11th try] and thoughts went through my mind during the month, my career," Power said.

"I've had so many wins [34], so many poles. Everyone talks about the 500 and I just couldn't imagine winning a race in front of a crowd like this, this many people [perhaps as many as 400,000]. It's just amazing."

Hometown hero Ed Carpenter, who had started from pole position for the third time in a similarly Chevrolet-powered car and finished second, commented on how Power used to hate oval tracks.

"Now he loves them," Carpenter said.

New Zealander Scott Dixon finished third, followed by Alexander Rossi, who had started 32nd in the field of 33.

Hot conditions made the 2½-mile (4km) superspeedway slippery and the cars, with new aerodynamics this year producing less downforce, proved a handful for even the most experienced of drivers, with plenty of crashes occurring.

The other Australian in the race, James Davison, was one of those, just before quarter distance, taking out last year's winner Takuma Sato with him.