Hidden behind the big smile is a driver who demolished a four-time champion. Daniel Ricciardo talks to BEN ANDERSON about a breakthrough Formula 1 season
Before he joined Red Bull, Formula 1 knew Daniel Ricciardo as a happy-go-lucky honey badger fan with a turn of speed.
Now, like the furry mammal he has painted on the back of his crash helmet, the Australian has shown there are sharp teeth behind that ubiquitous smile by winning three races and trouncing his four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Q. Coming into the season, how did you deal with the pressure of joining a world champion team and a multiple world champion team-mate? What was the expectation from Red Bull?
Ricciardo: Personally, I wanted to do well and show the team that I could race against Seb, but I think Red Bull expected me to feel a lot more pressure so they tried to take a lot off, if that makes sense? They were like, 'OK, this kid is coming in here and he's probably thinking we all expect him to be on the podium in Melbourne, so let's back everything off'.
And I didn't really feel any more pressure than I needed to. But my mindset was 'the pressure is on Seb to continue delivering'. No one expected me to come out straight away and start beating him, so that was something I could play with, which made things easier. I had a lot of belief and hope that the year would go well. But when I look back on it, it definitely did go better than expected. The three wins to zero [versus Vettel] is the big one.
Ricciardo overshadowed Vettel all year long © LAT |
Q. In terms of racing alongside Vettel, did you have the approach of trying to learn from him, or did you go, 'Right, I am going to do my own thing and be my own man'. How did you play it?
Ricciardo: I wouldn't say I studied him, but I was trying to absorb everything I could. I wasn't being too stubborn. In winter testing, when I wasn't driving and he was, I'd put the headphones on and see how he communicated with the engineers.
But once I got down to it and was comfortable with everything around me, the priority was making sure I was doing everything right and making sure that my weekends were going to plan.
If I needed to lean on him, then I would, but I always set myself as my number one priority, because I believed that if I got everything right and put down the perfect lap, then I would be able to challenge him.
Q. When did you realise that things were falling into place? You didn't get much mileage in testing, but you looked very comfortable with the car in Australia...
Ricciardo: Yeah, Australia definitely got the first load of pressure off my back. Seb had problems in qualifying and the race, so even though the race went really well for me, I couldn't gauge where I was with him. Then Malaysia, he was a little bit stronger than me that weekend so I was like, 'OK, this is where I probably expected to start the season' - a little bit on the back foot compared to him.
But it was really Bahrain, and then to go back and do the same in China in terms of out-doing him in qualifying, but also the race by a decent margin, and then Barcelona and then Canada... It was probably after China where I realised I could genuinely fight him for the rest of the season.
Q. He seemed to struggle with the tyres. In some of those races you mention, like China, he made an extra stop. Is there something about the car that suited you better than him? What do you think made the difference?
Ricciardo: It's something I've tried to figure out. It's been a strong point of mine this year - getting the tyres to last longer and still having good pace. That's been the case this year for quite a few races. I don't know if I've found an explanation for that.
I think, generally, I am quite sensitive: if the tyre does start to slide a bit too much, then I think I can adapt to that and back off where I need to. But at the same time I feel I've done that well in previous years but it hasn't had the same effect as it has this year.
That's one [reason], but the car itself I definitely feel at home with. They are difficult to drive and I think everyone has found that. I think I just found it less difficult...
His win at Spa was one of the highlights of the season © LAT |
Q. Let's talk about the three wins. I guess Spa was different from the others because you led from the front, and were being hunted instead of coming from behind as in Canada and Hungary…
Ricciardo: Spa was definitely different. I would say it was less adrenalin but more pressure. It was really up to me to not make any mistakes. I knew if I drove clean for the 40-odd laps as soon as I hit the lead then we had a good chance of winning. At the time I was thinking one mistake could cost me the race.
It was more of a concentration race - every corner make sure I hit the right braking point, getting on the throttle at the right time, and that was it.
Canada and Budapest was full adrenalin and just attack! That was definitely more intense, but in terms of the concentration, Spa was more demanding.
Q. Did it change your mentality, once you had won that first race? It is a big thing to have won a grand prix…
Ricciardo: Yeah definitely, it was a bit like Melbourne with the first podium. It was like, 'I can really do this', and then the first win was like, 'OK, I can really do this'! I hit the lead with only a couple of laps to go and I could feel the heart rate was starting to go up, and that whole 'can I still drive sensibly in the last two laps – do I have what it takes?' question came up in my mind.
Obviously I did have what it takes, and that made me feel a lot more comfortable about the other opportunities that came up. Budapest wasn't an easy race, but once I took the lead it was easy. I felt like I'd been there before, and the only thing that would stop me would be a mechanical failure or stuff like that.
Q. We saw some great qualifying sessions in your Toro Rosso days, but this year we've seen you fighting with all the top names and pulling some incredible overtaking moves. Where did that come from?
Ricciardo: It is definitely something I knew I had in my armoury somewhere, but it was not getting pulled out enough. I think it comes down to a couple of things behind the wheel of this car: I feel confident I can place the car and know I'm able to stop and make the apexes.
Even rivals such as Alonso were impressed by the Australian © LAT |
And secondly I'm more confident as a whole. More time in the sport means my self-belief just grows all the time, and I believe that I can pull off these moves; I believe I can race the top guys in the world.
When I first started karting I was hopeless at overtaking. But, by the end, once I had confidence with the kart, I was one of the more aggressive and decisive drivers. It's the same sort of trend here.
Q. It is important that they trust you as well, isn't it? And I guess they do, as you haven't had many incidents with them and you've had praise from the likes of Fernando Alonso.
Ricciardo: Yeah, that was cool. I think that's really what I wanted to achieve this year – results aside – to earn respect from the top guys. I think I've established myself now in that group, not only from the results, but also from the racing and the respect from them. That has been nice.
Q. The talk is always of Seb, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando as the three top drivers in F1, but you must be on the radar of all the top teams now.
Ricciardo: I think it's obvious that this year I've created some other awareness [outside of Red Bull]. There are a few of us young, up-and-coming drivers – [Valtteri] Bottas as well – we have done well, I think. I am aware of other teams and, whether they are interested or not, they are aware of what I am doing.
They know I have a contract with Red Bull, for at least next year, but I plan to be here [in F1] for a while so we will see what happens down the track. But I guess if you ask all the team principals who Danny Ricciardo is, they know who I am now…
Hidden behind the big smile is a driver who demolished a four-time champion. Daniel Ricciardo talks to BEN ANDERSON about a breakthrough Formula 1 season
Before he joined Red Bull, Formula 1 knew Daniel Ricciardo as a happy-go-lucky honey badger fan with a turn of speed.
Now, like the furry mammal he has painted on the back of his crash helmet, the Australian has shown there are sharp teeth behind that ubiquitous smile by winning three races and trouncing his four-time world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Q. Coming into the season, how did you deal with the pressure of joining a world champion team and a multiple world champion team-mate? What was the expectation from Red Bull?
Ricciardo: Personally, I wanted to do well and show the team that I could race against Seb, but I think Red Bull expected me to feel a lot more pressure so they tried to take a lot off, if that makes sense? They were like, 'OK, this kid is coming in here and he's probably thinking we all expect him to be on the podium in Melbourne, so let's back everything off'.
And I didn't really feel any more pressure than I needed to. But my mindset was 'the pressure is on Seb to continue delivering'. No one expected me to come out straight away and start beating him, so that was something I could play with, which made things easier. I had a lot of belief and hope that the year would go well. But when I look back on it, it definitely did go better than expected. The three wins to zero [versus Vettel] is the big one.
Ricciardo overshadowed Vettel all year long © LAT |
Q. In terms of racing alongside Vettel, did you have the approach of trying to learn from him, or did you go, 'Right, I am going to do my own thing and be my own man'. How did you play it?
Ricciardo: I wouldn't say I studied him, but I was trying to absorb everything I could. I wasn't being too stubborn. In winter testing, when I wasn't driving and he was, I'd put the headphones on and see how he communicated with the engineers.
But once I got down to it and was comfortable with everything around me, the priority was making sure I was doing everything right and making sure that my weekends were going to plan.
If I needed to lean on him, then I would, but I always set myself as my number one priority, because I believed that if I got everything right and put down the perfect lap, then I would be able to challenge him.
Q. When did you realise that things were falling into place? You didn't get much mileage in testing, but you looked very comfortable with the car in Australia...
Ricciardo: Yeah, Australia definitely got the first load of pressure off my back. Seb had problems in qualifying and the race, so even though the race went really well for me, I couldn't gauge where I was with him. Then Malaysia, he was a little bit stronger than me that weekend so I was like, 'OK, this is where I probably expected to start the season' - a little bit on the back foot compared to him.
But it was really Bahrain, and then to go back and do the same in China in terms of out-doing him in qualifying, but also the race by a decent margin, and then Barcelona and then Canada... It was probably after China where I realised I could genuinely fight him for the rest of the season.
Q. He seemed to struggle with the tyres. In some of those races you mention, like China, he made an extra stop. Is there something about the car that suited you better than him? What do you think made the difference?
Ricciardo: It's something I've tried to figure out. It's been a strong point of mine this year - getting the tyres to last longer and still having good pace. That's been the case this year for quite a few races. I don't know if I've found an explanation for that.
I think, generally, I am quite sensitive: if the tyre does start to slide a bit too much, then I think I can adapt to that and back off where I need to. But at the same time I feel I've done that well in previous years but it hasn't had the same effect as it has this year.
That's one [reason], but the car itself I definitely feel at home with. They are difficult to drive and I think everyone has found that. I think I just found it less difficult...
His win at Spa was one of the highlights of the season © LAT |
Q. Let's talk about the three wins. I guess Spa was different from the others because you led from the front, and were being hunted instead of coming from behind as in Canada and Hungary…
Ricciardo: Spa was definitely different. I would say it was less adrenalin but more pressure. It was really up to me to not make any mistakes. I knew if I drove clean for the 40-odd laps as soon as I hit the lead then we had a good chance of winning. At the time I was thinking one mistake could cost me the race.
It was more of a concentration race - every corner make sure I hit the right braking point, getting on the throttle at the right time, and that was it.
Canada and Budapest was full adrenalin and just attack! That was definitely more intense, but in terms of the concentration, Spa was more demanding.
Q. Did it change your mentality, once you had won that first race? It is a big thing to have won a grand prix…
Ricciardo: Yeah definitely, it was a bit like Melbourne with the first podium. It was like, 'I can really do this', and then the first win was like, 'OK, I can really do this'! I hit the lead with only a couple of laps to go and I could feel the heart rate was starting to go up, and that whole 'can I still drive sensibly in the last two laps – do I have what it takes?' question came up in my mind.
Obviously I did have what it takes, and that made me feel a lot more comfortable about the other opportunities that came up. Budapest wasn't an easy race, but once I took the lead it was easy. I felt like I'd been there before, and the only thing that would stop me would be a mechanical failure or stuff like that.
Q. We saw some great qualifying sessions in your Toro Rosso days, but this year we've seen you fighting with all the top names and pulling some incredible overtaking moves. Where did that come from?
Ricciardo: It is definitely something I knew I had in my armoury somewhere, but it was not getting pulled out enough. I think it comes down to a couple of things behind the wheel of this car: I feel confident I can place the car and know I'm able to stop and make the apexes.
Even rivals such as Alonso were impressed by the Australian © LAT |
And secondly I'm more confident as a whole. More time in the sport means my self-belief just grows all the time, and I believe that I can pull off these moves; I believe I can race the top guys in the world.
When I first started karting I was hopeless at overtaking. But, by the end, once I had confidence with the kart, I was one of the more aggressive and decisive drivers. It's the same sort of trend here.
Q. It is important that they trust you as well, isn't it? And I guess they do, as you haven't had many incidents with them and you've had praise from the likes of Fernando Alonso.
Ricciardo: Yeah, that was cool. I think that's really what I wanted to achieve this year – results aside – to earn respect from the top guys. I think I've established myself now in that group, not only from the results, but also from the racing and the respect from them. That has been nice.
Q. The talk is always of Seb, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando as the three top drivers in F1, but you must be on the radar of all the top teams now.
Ricciardo: I think it's obvious that this year I've created some other awareness [outside of Red Bull]. There are a few of us young, up-and-coming drivers – [Valtteri] Bottas as well – we have done well, I think. I am aware of other teams and, whether they are interested or not, they are aware of what I am doing.
They know I have a contract with Red Bull, for at least next year, but I plan to be here [in F1] for a while so we will see what happens down the track. But I guess if you ask all the team principals who Danny Ricciardo is, they know who I am now…
