Little disappointed in Daniel

Maybe I'm just tired and a bit pissy this morning, but I read that Danny again was talking about team orders at Red Bull. First, let's get the disclosures out of the way... I'm sort of a RB fan, I really like Ricciardo, easily one of my favorite drivers and I think he's shown incredible adaptation and driving skill. I'm in no way trying to take anything away from him, but...

... his wins have come as a result of some level of misfortune at Merc. A win is a win, however. Attrition, bad luck, whatever... is all part of F1 and everyone has benefited from it at one point or another. I just think it's a bit premature and bit... I'm not even sure what the word is... to be pushing the team for team orders to help him get ahead. He came in fifth yesterday and has a very long way to go. Sure, a lot can happen, but I don't know... I guess as good as he is, I would have liked for him to say, "F*ck team orders! I'm just gonna take it!"

It's sort of like... you're good but let's not start getting all diva about it already. I was just taken a bit by his comments lately.

 

I didn't say I was p*ssed... just a bit disappointed maybe. I'm not making a determination on him as a racer or person... I'm just expressing my feeling on what he's been talking about lately.

My hope is that the's not getting a big head... I'm not saying he is, don't think there's a trend...yet... but it's something struck me as... interesting I guess. Realistically, Merc would have to totally implode for him to have any chance at the championhip. There's nothing wrong with being aggressive and putting yourself in position to take advantage should that happen. That strategy has clearly worked for him in the wins he's gotten. I'm just saying let's not get too ahead of yourself and start talking about what the team ought to do for you.

Horner already dismissed any talk of team orders and was pretty blunt about it. It seemed to be sort of a "okay... let's calm down and get over yourself" kind of statement. Here's the quote:


"After the race Ricciardo said that it is time for Red Bull to decide if they are going to challenge Mercedes for the title and back one driver to do so.

"My lead is around 60 points over Seb [Vettel], " he told BBC Sport.

"I would love to be quicker on merit and not need team orders, but the next couple of tracks are perfect for us so if we need to make any decisions if we can challenge Mercedes for the title then I am sure they will be made."

However, if team principal Christian Horner's comments are anything to go by then Ricciardo won't receive extra help from the team despite his big points lead over team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

"The points difference between Daniel and the two Mercedes is enormous, so it doesn't make sense for us to interfere with the two drivers racing," he is quoted as saying in The Telegraph. "So it's down to what they do on track and that's how they raced today."

 

I agree. It seems every strategic call they make for Vettel only hurts him at the end. I definitely think he's driving a lot better. He's finally gotten some seat time lately after all the practice sit-outs and DNF's. I think he'd be further along if all that didin't happen, but it's F1 and it's part of it.

Ricciardo just seems to have total confidence in that car and drives the crap out of it. Coming from Toro Rosso, maybe it's just such in an improvement and he doesn't know any better, where Seb had the perfect car and has now stepped backward. Either way, anyone who says Vettel can't drive is just plain ignoring the races. I'm not really putting money down on anything this first season. I think a lot things are going to change in 2015 and 2016 as technologies get better understood and cars don't DNF because someone forgot to take out a comma in a line of code.

Bottas and Ricciardo have really proven themselves. Those two are the real deal and will likely have a lot of podiums in the years to come and likely a WDC to their name. I think it'll be interesting the next couple of years as they just get better as drivers while the veteran drivers like Vettel and Alsono get more accustomed to the power unit/chassis characteristics and unlearn what they've known for so long and get really in tune with more powerful, better working cars.

 

I like Vettel... I'm not a fanboy of anyone really, but I do think it's the "in" thing just to bash the guy. He a sh*t driver who didn't earn any of the championships. That seems to be the common theme. Pretty ignorant. I like Nico less and less, but I think he's a damn good driver. Give a great driver a great car and of course he's going to dominate.

 

I guess that's exactly my concern with his comments.