Five moments of Daniel Ricciardos F1 career

· 5 min read
Five moments of Daniel Ricciardos F1 career

Ricciardo would suffer consecutive retirements in Belgium and Italy, being caught up in a first-lap incident in the former and sustaining a clutch issue in the latter. This was followed by two sixth places in succession, the latter race at the Russian Grand Prix saw Ricciardo start at the back for a third time due to engine penalties. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Ricciardo suffered another qualifying setback, being hit by an exhaust daniel ricciardo funny moments failure that confined him to 15th on the grid, having failed to set a lap in Q2. Fortunately, Ricciardo replicated his Hungary drive and pushed all the way to fourth place. Later in the season, he tied for the most retirements in the 2018 season, with 8 retirements in total. At the United States Grand Prix, Ricciardo outqualified Verstappen for the first time since Monaco in fifth, the Dutchman endured suspension issues.



Obviously better and better doesn’t mean we’ll eventually be winning races by October, but just to really keep learning and feeling comfortable. "All the drivers are under pressure to deliver but the reason that Daniel was in that car was to get himself back into a position to ultimately be there to pick up the pieces if Checo didn't deliver. He qualified fourth at Spa, and 'finished' there after the race was cancelled because of torrential rain, then was fifth on the grid at the Dutch Grand Prix.
The “Honey Badger” found his ideal place to overtake, the firm and tight turn 14, after the long back straight. As we have  already mentioned, Daniel Ricciardo’s most famous maneuver is known as “divebomb,” which is to overtake on the inside, braking much later than the opponent. The “Honey Badger” is the best driver on the grid doing this, as he knows very well when and how he has to brake. Rosberg remained in the lead, and shortly after the incident, Ricciardo overtook Fernando Alonso and then his teammate Vettel after the latter made a mistake. Rosberg had to change his front wing at the pit stop, so the Australian came out ahead of him after his pit stop, keeping the lead for the rest of the race.

The young driver from New Zealand was considered a strong option for VCARB’s 2024 lineup, but the team opted instead to stick with Ricciardo. In 18 races, Ricciardo has only outperformed teammate Tsunoda seven times, and only three of those performances have been good enough to score points. Tsunoda has 22 points to Ricciardo’s 12—not the “exceptional performances” that Marko was looking for. Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull F1 director and head of Red Bull’s driver development program, stated in the immediate aftermath of Perez’s re-signing that “[VCARB’s] shareholders have made it known that it is a junior team and we have to act accordingly. The goal was that he would be considered for Red Bull with exceptional performances.
The shoey is a unique Australian celebration which entails a driver drinking champagne from their race-worn shoe on the podium. It was introduced to motorsport by V8 Utes racer Ryal Harris, before Ricciardo brought it to F1 after his second-place finish at the 2016 German GP. But Ricciardo thrived and quickly asserted himself as the faster driver, in which his impressive start culminated in a maiden grand prix victory at the season’s seventh round in Montreal. Starting in tenth, Ricciardo dropped all the way down to 17th at one point before charging his way to the front.

This led to a nine-second stop and Ricciardo left the pit lane behind Hamilton, who eventually won the race. The Aussie was understandably furious, but redemption came in 2018 as he arguably produced the best drive of his career which was Michael Schumacher-esc according to team boss Christian Horner. Ricciardo moved to reigning world champions Red Bull for 2014 after fellow Aussie Mark Webber called time on his 12-year F1 career. Although Red Bull had just won the previous four titles, Ricciardo wasn’t exactly thrown into an easy situation because he was up against the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel in the first year of turbo-hybrid racing. Sitting in sixth position after the opening lap, Ricciardo worked his way to the front as the Mercedes cars had brake issues and leader Sebastian Vettel struggled with his tyres.
AP Top 25 Poll Alerts Get email alerts for every college football Top 25 Poll release. AP Top 25 Women's Basketball Poll Alerts Women's college basketball poll alerts and updates. Thus, Ricciardo crossed the finish line first, followed by Norris, scoring a legendary victory, McLaren’s first win since the 2012 Brazilian GP. On the first lap, Ricciardo fought against Lance Stroll not to lose position, overtook Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso’s Alpine, and after Kimi Raikkonen’s accident, he moved up to thirteenth. After this masterclass move, the Australian took advantage of the extra stop Hamilton had to make to adjust his headrest, which had become loose. Then the 10-second penalty Vettel received to cross the finish line in the first position comfortably.
Hence, the Miami GP will be exciting to watch  the Australian battle it out and fend off against the drivers behind. Daniel Ricciardo returned to the top step of an F1 podium for the first time last year at Monza, having struggled to get to grips with McLaren’s MCL35M early on. And Ricciardo reckoned that the Italian GP victory wasn’t just the highlight of his “wild” year – but perhaps the highlight of his career so far. Every great driver’s journey begins somewhere, but Ricciardo’s started in a rather unexpected place.

It was recently confirmed Ricciardo will be staying with RB for the remainder of the season, missing out on Red Bull promotion for now, but also avoiding an early replacement by reserve driver Liam Lawson who looks likely to make the grid in 2025. Ricciardo has first-hand experience with Red Bull's pressure cooker alongside Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. And given the travails of those who tried to replace him, the Australian's original Red Bull stint – including seven of his eight grand prix wins – looks ever more impressive in hindsight. "In that moment I was heated. I was getting quite heated moments in my brain but I still let him through a lap or half a lap later. In the end, the team thought he had more chance and I respect that." Coming into this season, the Japanese driver stated he wanted to learn from his more experienced team-mate, but Tsunoda admitted he "probably showed the opposite" in Bahrain. It’s therefore likely to be the end of Ricciardo’s F1 career, which began in 2011 and has twice seen the 35-year-old finish third in the championship – his best result.
“Obviously if those doors aren’t open, I’ve also said for a while that I don’t really just want to be here maybe fighting for a point every few races. “I’ve been a young driver as well, and at some point, I  don’t just want to take up space also, but obviously you have to be selfish. “You know, sometimes you’ve got to see the big picture, and I always said I don’t just want to be a guy that’s here on the grid and fighting for a point every now and then, which has kind of been how this year’s gone.

His victory in Canada broke the chain of six Mercedes victories that marked the beginning of the 2014 season. Ricciardo failed to finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix, but managed to record his first points of the 2014 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where he finished fourth, after starting in 13th position. Ricciardo would not wait long for his first podium, securing third place at the Spanish Grand Prix. Despite dropping to fifth early on, he regained third after problems for teammate Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.