Christian Horner says Daniel Ricciardo has already done enough to ensure he will stay at Red Bull next season. Though he signed a three-year deal it is not uncommon for teams to add break clauses to deals, allowing them to change driver after one season if necessary. Red Bull Junior Team member Alex Lynn won the opening GP3 race of the season in Barcelona, prompting questions about the team's line-up for next season. But Horner is adamant Ricciardo has done more than enough in the first five races of 2014 to ensure he will be alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2015. "I cannot speak highly enough of what Daniel has done in the first five races," Horner said. "He has done a great job this year and he is so calm in the car. He continues to impress us with his speed and his approach. "He is enjoying what he is doing, and you never see him not smiling. It is a pleasure to have him in the team, and the two guys are working extremely well together." Horner is adamant Ricciardo will be at Red Bull for the long haul, though he used the opportunity to poke fun at Ferrari's reported pursuit of Adrian Newey. "We have always believed in stability and continuity. Daniel is on a long-term contract with the team and it will be highly unlikely he will be anywhere else next year - unless of course Ferrari are chasing him as well." Horner also admits life is easier with Ricciardo at Red Bull after the tension between his predecessor Mark Webber and Vettel in their five seasons together. "It is a walk in the park compared to previous years. But that is part of the challenge of being a team boss." © ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
from watching the races this year it's like the team is trying to keep Vettel from ruining Dan's races by keeping him calm
The better the blown diffuser worked, the stronger (nee more dominant) Vettel became (see 2011 and 2013), esp over Mark Webber. I once read a Jackie Stewart interview (1983/4 Autocourse)and he said only Alan Jones (and Nelson Piquet) really extracted the full potential of a ground effect car (from 1978-1982). And with regards to Vettel, that is very true of a blown diffuser/flexi wing car
Vettel and Redbull cheating? surely not! Just bending the rules (just like the the front wings they had). That would be like saying Schumacher had launch control, traction control or missing filters in fuel rigs for faster pit stops in 1994. Vettel sure hasn't been the same driver since they've been removed!
I just realised why I like Dan, he doesn't have that petulance gene the others have ....... it's very refreshing
Actually thats true .and a very very underrated driver ..I said it once before-his true measure wasn't the 1996 championship, but the fact he nearly won in an Arrows Yamaha,qualified third on the grid for the European GP in 1997 in a exact time as the other two guys who qualified in front of him, won in a Jordan in Spa '98 and even Adrian Newey no less, rated him very highly.
That was Frentzen (behind title pair Schumacher and Villeneuve), but to be fair DH was actually on a better lap before running into yellows. He ended up less than a tenth behind in fourth. I always wondered what would've happened at Spa if Ralf hadn't listened to EJ about backing off, but unfortunately I suspect the answer is "an incrementing of the really big crash counter for the afternoon".
