Ricciardo's 2014 Season - Spoilers included

His defending and overtaking skill is absolutely fantastic.

He'll be a future WDC for sure. Throw Bottas in that mix as well. These two are the superstars of the future.

Kvyat in only his first year has impressed me as well. Sure a mistake here and there...but not bad for a young chap that has skipped GP2 and FR3.5 in it's entirety and is where he is now.

 

The guy has the fire in his belly. I think 80% of those driving F1 today don't.

Webber sure didn't.

 

On top of all that, he seems like a genuinely nice and happy guy. We will see how he reacts in the future, but his on podium demeanor is fantastic.

 

+1 I'd say personally he had won me over a little earlier than yourself, why am not sure, but the fact he seems to be smiling and loving every bit of his racing come hail rain or shine maybe the case, and he is a super seemingly fair racer.

 

Yes agreed Bottas very impressive so far as well.

 

I'm not convinced he's very good

My fellow challenge owner here in Oz agrees, don't you JM ?

 

I'm staggered that he's doing so well against Vettel. 4 x WDC and it (was) Vettel's team!

I guess I didn't think Button would do well against Hamilton either, so I should be used to being surprised.

 

It is really weird, because it WAS Vettel's team, they screwed MW but seem to be laying out the golden road for Dan ... has he got photos of the boss's wife ???

 

Agree. I'm convinced that Daniel is the class of the young guns though, primarily because he is handling his teammate, which would be like Massa beating Schu in his prime.

 

I think Vettel is struggling with the car because he developed a particular driving style driving his previous cars which had monster rear downforce, and to get the most out of that (particularly with how the exhaust influenced the diffuser) he was able to get on the throttle mighty early (in fact, had to, to get the best out of the car).

Right now with the new rules (also central exhaust etc) a lot of rear downforce and how it developed it's rear downforce is gone, and Vettel has to adopt his driving style.

It should be possible that RB will build a car that suits his driving style next year and we'll see how he can cope then.

Remember that how they wanted their car in pre season wasn't working out because they packaged it way to tight and basically had to scrap their car because it wasn't going anywhere. Amazing recovery RB has done...

 

Really, really wish I hadn't seen this headline before watching the race.

 

But it's been 6 months!! How long does it take to adapt?

 

I wasn't convinced at first. I wasn't sure why Ricciardo should have gotten the seat in favor of Vergne but he truly is the revelation of 2014. The guy can do no wrong.

 

Perfecting a driving style and then suddenly unlearn it I assume is not an easy process. I'm convinced it's one of the things that's wrong with Vettel this year, I'm also sure that the car doesn't quite suit him anyhow.

 

Seb seems to be getting the car underneath him now but multiple races have had terrible pit strategy. Both of Ricci's wins easily could have been Vettel had he been on Ricci's pit strat/timing(both times Vet was ahead when pits put him in bad position). The rule changes were designed to effect RB and Vettel the most and they have. Vettel arguably has the biggest mountain to climb this season.

That being said... Ricci's racecraft is incredible. It appears to be every bit as good and reliable as Alonso's but with a bit more raw speed like Ham and Vet. Those two mixed together are showing a very smart but very aggressive driver with excellent resolve, patience and timing.

+1 Superbly impressed and also a fan now.

 

Definitely an impressive driver!

I wonder how many Ricciardo vs. Bottas title fights we'll enjoy in future years.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

Got yer TFH handy?

Seriously, could you please explain how you arrived at that conclusion?

Not sure he's quicker than Fred, but other than that I agree. He's certainly continuing to impress a lot of people. Me included. Hasn't (yet anyway) become cynical & jaded either - He seems to be genuinely enjoying himself out there too. Great stuff!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Assuming their trajectories continue the way they're looking right now, possibly quite a few!

Seriously impressed with them both. I certainly wasn't expecting either to be, basically, dominating their 'mates either..... A 4xWDC and the most experienced driver in the field! (Please, no more Phil hate here too, thanks!)

Cheers,
Ian

 

Very well said; agree on all points.

 

In the post race interview, Alonso and Hamilton were asked to comment about their feelings regarding Dan. Both were extremely complementary - particularly in Alonso's case. I can see the same passing of the torch as when MS was highly complimentary of Lewis in 2006 during his GP2 season.

The greats can recognize greats!