Daniel Ricciardo

I noticed young Daniel didn't have his own thread so thought I'd give him on as sure he'll be around for a good few years.

Born in 1989 (that makes him 22 before you do the maths) this aussie started karting at the age of 9 and in 2005 entered the Western Australian Formula Ford Championship as a privateer driving a car that was 15 years old at the time and managed to finish 8th. He won a scholarship to compete in Formula BMW Asia the following year. As we all know he eventually became involved in the Red Bull young driver programme after winning the British Formula 3 championship in 2009.

Became Red Bull's test driver and has now stepped up to drive for HRT. Has been really hyped as the next big thing by the Red Bull team and the press. Eddie Jordan described him as a future world champion before he'd even done his first Grand Prix. The truth is though he has not set the world alight at HRT. How can one set the world alight at HRT I hear you ask to which I say - good point! Although he has beaten Liuzzi twice already in the races I believe he needs to get on top of him in quali too. Also he's being beaten by quite a way in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series by both Robert Wickens and Jean-Eric Vergne.

So Ricciardo - future number 1 or going going gone?

 

[Clay]

Just to bring things back to Ricciardo - coz I looked back thru loads of posts and he’s not been mentioned for ages in his own thread - he’s peaked. Peaked. On the slide. Tomorrow’s chip paper. Begone greasy chip paper man, slide off to Renault, then Aussie Rules, then pushing toy cars around the driveway, and don’t come back.

You might right, maybe he has peaked. Ricciardo never been ahead of Verstappen on track in the last 7 races when cleared for pit stops.

 

[Il_leone]

Someone said he was the most overrated driver the other day which I strongly refute

 

[siffert_fan]

Prost obviously disagrees with vintly:

https://www.planetf1.com/news/prost-ricciardo-worth-every-penny-to-renault/

 

[Clay]

Prost obviously disagrees with vintly:

https://www.planetf1.com/news/prost-ricciardo-worth-every-penny-to-renault/

Prost works for Renault. It doesn't surprise me that he disagrees with vintly.

 

[Clay]

I'd like to see how he compares to Hulkenberg.

 

[vintly]

I agree with Prost, Renault have probably made a good move getting Ricciardo. He’s a very good driver, but I doubt he’ll be seeing any podiums for a long while yet. I don’t think Renault will be bothering the top step by 2021 let alone 2020 and my guess is that by then Ricciardo’s star status will be but a distant memory. I am biased against him because he’s never said anything I find that interesting. The jolly smile and schoolboy humour doesn’t do it for me, although I doubt he’ll lose sleep over that.

 

[RasputinLives]

...and you love Max

 

[Il_leone]

Renault always get it right as history has shown and they don't have to deal with the constant annoyance that is Red Bull they can focus on tailoring the car and engine for the Enstone team

So I have no doubt they will come good again. Ricciardo its a bold move but the right one for his career. I mean he's got two years if a team wants him badly he can be bought out of his contract. Anyway come 2020 all the big players will have their contracts up for renewal

 

[siffert_fan]

Prost works for Renault. It doesn't surprise me that he disagrees with vintly.

He is also a four-times WDC and I would say knows a considerable amount about evaluating driving ability.

 

[Il_leone]

The fact is Renault managed to sign one of the top 4 drivers suggests either Ricciardo has a lot of faith in the team coming good or he does not know what he is doing .

At the moment Renault are at least 1.5 seconds a lap slower than Red Bull. So lets see if they can close the gap down to half and start being within 0.5 seconds per lap

 

[vintly]

...and you love Max

I do but that has nothing to do with Ricciardo.

 

[siffert_fan]

Blocking Sainz deal cost Red Bull Ricciardo - Abiteboul

 

[Titch]

I wonder what everyone would be saying about Ricciardo if he had been sitting in the seat currently occupied by Bottas. Racing in that team would have been a lot more entertaining.

 

[RasputinLives]

To be honest I don't think anything would have been any different. Like Bottas, Danny would have beat Lewis at some tracks but overall would have been beaten down to number 2 status just like Valteri.

Let's face it since Hamilton got beat by the Rosberg mind games he's been virtually untouchable. The only driver on the grid who has the talent to get anywhere near him is Seb Vettel (yes I am including Alonso in this) and even he can't do it over a whole season. People talk about Vettel taking too many risks and making too many errors but the fact of the matter is that they are only happening because he's having to take big risks and try and perform above himself to try and compete with Lewis.

I mean seriously Hamilton's form over the last two years has been mind-blowing. The only person I can think of in my lifetime who has ever performed at such a high level this consistancy is Schumacher.

Now Schumie at his peak verses Hamilton at his peak would be the fight to end all fights.

 

[siffert_fan]

That seems a rather sweeping evaluation given that, for the VAST majority of the last five years, he has been in such an overwhelmingly superior car (proven by the number of 1-2 finishes) that all he has shown is that he has been better than this teammate. IMO, if he had been in the Red Menace or RB teams (or any other) during that period, he would have won precisely zero championships.

Unfortunately, barring all drivers being in equal cars, there is no reliable way to assess their relative abilities.

 

[RasputinLives]

Yes he has had a superior car mostly in the last two years but it's really not been too far ahead of the Ferrari. If you look at his level of performance and consistancy of performance in the last two years it really is mindblowing.

 

[F1Brits_90]

they been saying this for a while on 5 live chequered flag podcast, that normally every driver going for title has somekind of issue but Lewis hasn't he has been top performing all season & that only blip was a poor qualifying in Canada. bottas hasn't been on top form but made worse by lewis on top form 8 wins, he's finished 14 races this season been on the podium 12 times. since 2017 british gp he been on 20 of the last 25 podiums races he finished. driving as good as he was in 2015, which I thought was the peak

im not saying he would beat him but Id fancy Verstappen to have challenged him because since Monaco when he was very erratic he's been 1 of the P4P top performers on the grid. Would won a lot more

 

[Clay]

Yes he has had a superior car mostly in the last two years but it's really not been too far ahead of the Ferrari. If you look at his level of performance and consistancy of performance in the last two years it really is mindblowing.

In the races in which it has been ahead of the Ferrari, it has mostly dominated look at the qualifying and race gaps this year. The hype that surrounded Ferrari especially after the summer is nearly completely unsubstantiated. The gap between Vettel and Hamilton at the end of the race in Spa was 11 sec., the gap between Raikkonen and Hamilton close to .2 sec. despite getting a tow off of Vettel and the gap between Vettel and Hamilton .014 sec.. Nothing special to be honest. Ferrari has been hyped too much since the Melbourne which would've also been a comfortable win for Hamilton had the strategy team not messed up. I suspect Vettel is having to push more to get the maximum out of the car which would partly explain the amount of mistakes he's made this season.

 

[Il_leone]

Back to Daniel Ricciardo
- His performance has tailed off since Monaco which was his last podium
- He seems to have reliability issues
- Is he seeing Red Bull favouring Max - possibly

Would he be able to beat Hamilton - on the current form Hamilton is in no one is able to get near him. Ricciardo would probably be a lot closer to him and Vettel than Bottas.
Vettel is having trouble dealing with Hamilton because he is having to manage a dysfunctional set up at Ferrari which is probably affecting his track performances. Alonso if he did not let it get to his head probably would have beaten Hamilton

I would love to see how Prost or Senna dealt with Hamilton at their peak

Ricciardo certainly would give Hamilton a harder time wheel to wheel racing.

The smiling assassin - don't mistake that Joker like grin because behind it he does have a killer instinct but he would not go far as trying to backstab your teammate not to the naked eye

 

[Il_leone]

siffert_fan the gloves are off between Red Bull and Renault because its tit for tat

To be honest Ricciardo wanted assurances from Red Bull that he will be treated as equal and that included pay when Verstappen is supposedly going to earn $30m a year and Red Bull somehow are telling him we can;t afford you the same

Also he would be monitoring what is happening with Sainz as well because other than being promoted to Red Bull which is the natural progression and not to go back to Toro Rosso. What else are you expecting Ricciardo to do if neither Mercedes or Ferrari are talking to him openly ?