Daniel Ricciardo says he "touched cloth" after narrowly avoiding a collision with the barriers late in the Monaco Grand Prix.
A Safety Car had been deployed after Fernando Alonso's McLaren replacement Jenson Button had put Pascal Wehrlein in the wall at Portier. When the race resumed on lap 67, Ricciardo almost fell victim to cold tyres as he brushed the wall at Sainte Devote, amazingly keeping his Red Bull on track and not dropping position.
"I didn't enjoy that, I think I touched cloth," Ricciardo said. "I usually race with old underwear because I know these things can happen.
"I hit [the wall] pretty hard and I assumed I would have had damage, so happy to hold it. When you get a safety car, these tyres are like driving on ice, I was quite happy to see the chequered flag."
The Australian, who started fifth, had benefitted from an overcut strategy -- similar to eventual winner Sebastian Vettel -- which allowed him to leapfrog teammate Max Verstappen and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen had pitted one lap earlier than Bottas in an attempt to undercut the Mercedes, however a slow stop gave the Finn enough time to hold position.
With the pair out of the way it allowed Ricciardo to demonstrate the full potential of his Red Bull in clear air.
"You don't often start fifth and get a podium here." Ricciardo said. "I was at the tail of the pack and I think my engineer had a pretty good idea on what my pace was and what I could do.
"I had the track to myself for a few laps and just managed to get good times in on those tyres and did some consistent laps and got the overcut so I was happy with that. That was the sort of pace we could have done yesterday."
Ricciardo has now finished on the podium at three of the past four races in Monte Carlo, and after six races in 2017 sits fifth in the world championship on 52 points.