Last Updated on December 29 2024, 11:36 am

Those who follow Formula One are often less partisan than fans of other sports and will support multiple teams and drivers. Of course in contradiction of this postulation is the tifosi who treat Ferrari as the national racing team of Italy.

Then there are drivers who garner fanatical support as has Lewis Hamilton, whose fan base display similar traits to the tifosi and have been so named by TJ13 as the Hamfosi. Lewis is somewhat pf a marmite character in F1, yes he is statistically the most successful driver the sport has ever produced, but debates often rage as to whether he can really be the GOAT.

Then there are drivers who come along in F1 who are universally loved by the fans and in the latest generation of drivers Daniel Ricciardo was that man. The loveable Aussie came to prominence when he was promoted by Red Bull alongside the current four times world champion Sebastian Vettel and over the course of the 2014 season he comprehensively dismantled his team mate finishing the championship some 71 points ahead of the German ace.

 

 

 

Ricciardo sees of 4 time champion

Daniel claimed three race victories in that year which was dominated by the Mercedes duo and by eclipsing his team mate week in and out many F1 observers believe Ricciardo was responsible for Vettel high tailing it to Ferrari the following season.

F1 TV journalist Will Buxton in his farewell toe the Aussie wrote on F1.com, “There are many in the paddock who remain adamant that Daniel Ricciardo was never more than a fast midfield journeyman, who took his chances when they came but was never destined for the top.” Yet this is to ignore Ricciardo’s performances for Red Bull, who for most of his time with the Milton Keynes based team suffered from a lack lustre Renault power unit.

Of course Daniel’s F1 statistics do not sit with the pantheon of greats, and while his numbers are marginally inferior to the likes of Valtteri Bottas, they do not reflect the superiority of the Mercedes F1 cars the Finn was privileged to drive.

To glimpse the real talent within the Australian we must examine his time alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull. For the fifth round of the 2016 season, the Dutch driver was promoted alongside Ricciardo as Russian Daniil Kvyat returned to Torro Rosso. Verstappen immediately showed his worth claiming his maiden F1 victory first time out in Barcelona.

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Daniel bests Verstappen

The points tally on leaving Spain saw Ricciardo with an advantage of only ten despite his team mate starting the first four races in the junior team. Come the end of the year, Daniel had increased the lead over his team mate to 52 points in what was a comfortable season for the Aussie as the leader of the team.

Again in 2017 Ricciardo trumped over Max and despite having three DNF’s in the final four rounds of the year, Daniel finished some 32 points ahead of the rising Dutch star. Verstappen finally got the better of Ricciardo in 2018, although the Red Bull was firmly only the third quickest car behind the likes of Hamilton and Vettel in their Mercedes’ and Ferrari cars.

It appeared the loveable Aussie was spooked when the pair had a huge crash during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Whilst Christian Horner publicly appear to equally blame both of his drivers, it was Ricciardo who took the matter to heart announcing he was leaving the team several weekends later.

Ricciardo beat both his team mates at Renault in 2019, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon in 2020 before securing a move alongside Lando Norris at the historic McLaren F1 outfit which proved to be a devastating failure for the Aussie. Whilst not a disaster, his first year saw him finish a respectable number of points behind Norris, but the huge FIA rule changes for 2022 and the ground effect cars appeared to break Ricciardo as they did Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez.

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RB accept blame for Ricciardo failure

These are older drivers attempted unsuccessfully to significantly change their driving styles to accommodate the new car design aerodynamics and swift moving centres of pressure under the floor. Yet Red Bull believed in Ricciardo with Christian Horner admitting he rejected Ricciardo’s decision ton leave in the first place.

Ironically the return of Ricciardo was intended to solve the problem the team had suffered since the Aussie left, none of the partners put up against Max since Daniel left there team could cope with his devastating speed and ended up broken.

Yet the fabled return was not to be and with just six races remaining this season, it was time for Daniel to say farewell. Now RB team principal reveals why it just didn’t work to for Daniel with the team shouldering a significant share of the blame.

Speaking to Autosport, Laurent Mekies concedes the team had to take collective responsibility for the results on track. “The question we have been asked the most was: ‘Can Daniel still produce the ultimate speed we have seen?’” Said Mekies.

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Blistering speed in Canada and Miami

“I think he has on a few occasions, in Miami, in Canada and in quite a few other races. So, he did produce that ultimate speed that took him to race wins in the past.

“But for the team, as for the drivers, the biggest difficulty is not to be fast one day. It’s to be fast in every race. Did we manage to keep Daniel in that sweet spot often enough? No, that’s the reality.

“I raised my hand and we raised our hands as a team, because we have a big part to play in it. And this led to what happened.”

There was a debate within the Red Bull camp towards the end of the 2023 season whether to promote Liam Lawson for this year, or see if the interrupted return of Ricciardo was the start of something good. Lawson is seen as the future and for some retaining Ricciardo was just delaying the New Zealander’s necessary exposure each F1 weekend.

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RB hugely benefitted from Ricciardo era say Mekies

Yet team boss Mekies does not see it this way and argues Ricciardo played a vital part in the team’s improving fortunes. “There was a huge benefit for the team and for Yuki [Tsunoda] in terms of Daniel’s technical feedback, direction of development, race-winning approach,” Mekies added.

“Having somebody that knows how it is in a team that wins races, that fights for championships, is setting the benchmark and that counts a lot in a time where you are trying to build the team and target better results.

“That benefit has been huge, also in terms of car understanding and car development. And I think Yuki has been developing a good relationship with Daniel to the extent that he has been able to absorb quite a lot of that and to keep progressing himself in that area,” he concluded.

The return of Lawson was hardly a resounding success for the rising F1 star. He was hammered 6-0 in Grand Prix qualifying by Yuki Tsunoda and now faces the toughest task of all in the sport, sitting across the garage from four times world champion, Max Verstappen.

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“F**K YOU” Red Bull hits back

The 2024 Formula One season has been anything but ordinary for Red Bull Racing. While the team once again celebrated Max Verstappen’s extraordinary fourth consecutive world championship, the season was marred by a mid-season slump for the Dutchman and a major scandal involving team principal Christian Horner.

Despite the tumultuous year, the team emerged united and defiant, buoyed by a collective “f**k you” mentality in response to their challenges.

Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula 1 remained largely unchallenged in 2024, culminating in his fourth consecutive title. However, the road to glory was not without its bumps. Mid-season struggles raised questions about whether Red Bull’s unbeaten run was coming to an end…. READ MORE