DANIEL RICCIARDO: Driving to Survive
I love Daniel, but time does seem to be running out for the F1 star.
JACQUES ATTACK
As the dust settled on a fantastic Canadian Grand Prix, attention rightly moved on from the main story earlier that weekend.
A surprising off track rivalry formed between the 1997 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve and 8-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo. The Canadian offered a brutal assessment of Daniel, on air with Sky Sports he said “"If you can't cut it go home. There's someone else to take your place. That's what's always been in racing. It's the pinnacle of the sport. There's no reason to keep going and to keep finding excuses. His image has kept him in F1 more than his actual result."
However, after qualifying an excellent 5th. Daniel replied in the media pen with ‘eat sh*t!’
In the end it was a bit of a scrapy race from the Australian, coming home 8th after a jump start penalty put him on the backfoot.
So, does Jacques have a point?
This weekend marked 10 years since Daniel’s first win in the sport, two more wins followed that season, with many at the time stating that he will be a ‘future world champion’.
That assessment never materialised, so where did it all go wrong? Let’s take a look back at what has happened since that first win.
POWER STRUGGLES
In early 2016, Daniel had cemented himself as the Red Bull number 1 driver. He had dismantled 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel who had left for Ferrari. His teammate at the time, Daniel Kvyat could not match his pace…cue Red Bull ruthlessness. Incredibly, the team dropped Kvyat for 17-year-old Max Verstappen, who exploded onto the scene by winning his first ever race for the team in Barcelona.
What followed was the power battle between the two, Daniel managed to edge out Max in both seasons they raced together, but it was becoming inevitable that Red Bull management were building the team around Max.
NETFLIX STARDOM
Off the track, F1 was under new management and a new approach of opening the sport up to new fans was underway. A new Netflix documentary was put into production for the 2018 season. Understandably, teams and drivers from the big three (Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull) were apprehensive about giving access and decided not to partake. Apart from Daniel Riccardo. The move proved to be a shrewd one, the series proved to be a huge success. With millions of new fans for the sport and for Riccardo. Since then, Daniel has offered whichever team he has been at commercial success. Firstly Renault, where his move to the team became one of the highlights of the Netflix doc. Since, McLaren and now Toro Rosso. Now in a price cap era, the commercial gains of a team become even more important, which is a big reason why Perez continues to remain at Red Bull.
COMMITMENT ISSUES
In the early part of his career, nobody could doubt his pace. Red Bull were never really able to provide him with a Championship winning car. With his faith in the team waning, he decided to jump ship to a new project at Renault (now Alpine). Overall, it was a failure, with just one lonely podium to show. Daniel didn’t hang around and decided to once again leave the team to join McLaren. This is where things started to unravel for Daniel, new talents such as Charles LeClerc, George Russell and Lando Norris were starting to emerge. With the later beating the Australian over the course of the two seasons together, albeit with Daniel coming away . He left McLaren at the end of 2022, with suitors willing to now take a risk on an eight-time race winner.
His messy career path had shades of Fernando Alonso, without the early Championships. Commitment issues and being schooled by younger talents now means none of the big hitters in the sport fancies the 34-year-old anymore.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Even though his powers were seeming to diminish, he was handed a lifeline from his old mate Christian Horner. After a year of sitting on the sidelines, he returned to where it all began, Toro Rosso. Question marks remained over the future of Sergio Perez at Red Bull and whether he is capable of being a suitable deputy to Max Verstappen. Therefore, the challenge was clear for Daniel, perform well and be in with a chance of a Red Bull seat for 2025.
However, an awful start to the season and being has meant that his options are starting to dwindle for next season.
ONE LAST DANCE
I know, the wrong Netflix series! But it does seem that a curtain is starting to close on Daniel Riccardo’s F1 career. As a brand, he is still one of the biggest in the sport, sitting 5th in the current grid’s winners list (Hamilton 103, Verstappen 60, Alonso 32 and Bottas 10) and remains one of the most followed and loved drivers across social media. This reason alone has probably gifted him opportunities that others have missed out on, with fellow race winner Esteban Ocon about to be cast aside too, albeit without the countless second chances.
We will wait and see what the rest of the season brings for Daniel. I for one can’t wait to watch it…in a dramatised version coming to Netflix in Spring 2025.
