I was pleased to see that F1 rejects have got their season review up; I've just finished reading it now (seems they forgot to list their top 3 rejects though).
One rating that made an impression on me was Daniel Ricciardo ranked in 12th. They said that Mark Hughes (a guy who's writing I really respect) went further and put him 10th. That's made me curious as to what people think of Ricciardo.
On the face of it, it looks like he was pretty anonymous this year and the stats show that he was outscored by rookie team-mate Vergne.
But then Michael Schumacher knows from 2012 how misleading points statistics compared to team-mates are. The Bahrain Q3 lap really looked something special to me. He was only +0.490sec off Vettel in 6th, in a car that isn't as good. I don't know, but maybe he actually put in the best lap that afternoon (i.e. if it was a spec series with equal cars, Daniel would have been on pole).
But what has made as much of an impression on me as that was the season opener on home ground. He was caught up in a first corner collision that I don't think was his fault and had to pit for a new nose. I read from somewhere that for part of the rest of the race, Ricciardo was the 3rd or 4th quickest out there. That's in a field where both McLarens and Red Bulls were at the front. What's more, the car was somewhat damaged and in less than it's optimal state.
But what really made a mark for me was the way he described his final lap, where he went from 11th to 9th, and the way he described overtaking team-mate Vergne coming out of turn 13. He sounded so confident and so on top of the job, it was seriously impressive to me. And this was with a likeable attitude too. I didn't sense any arrogance in his personality.
I remember people talking about him on here 3 years ago. I didn't know anything about how good he was, but I do remember people saying that though he seemed very good, he wasn't that amazing. I kind of go with that view a little, and hope it's wrong. I see him as the new Mark Webber, a very top driver but just lacking that little extra to be champion or one of the greats. On the surface, his HRT outings seemed to back this up. He got on terms with Liuzzi and started beating him, buuuuut... it could be argued that though he did well, maybe there wasn't much that was Senna-like, or Alonso 2001-like. But Ricciardo is a driver I'm following with interest. I hope he has a big future ahead of him and can beat Vergne next season.
Interested to know what people think about Dan... :)
One rating that made an impression on me was Daniel Ricciardo ranked in 12th. They said that Mark Hughes (a guy who's writing I really respect) went further and put him 10th. That's made me curious as to what people think of Ricciardo.
On the face of it, it looks like he was pretty anonymous this year and the stats show that he was outscored by rookie team-mate Vergne.
But then Michael Schumacher knows from 2012 how misleading points statistics compared to team-mates are. The Bahrain Q3 lap really looked something special to me. He was only +0.490sec off Vettel in 6th, in a car that isn't as good. I don't know, but maybe he actually put in the best lap that afternoon (i.e. if it was a spec series with equal cars, Daniel would have been on pole).
But what has made as much of an impression on me as that was the season opener on home ground. He was caught up in a first corner collision that I don't think was his fault and had to pit for a new nose. I read from somewhere that for part of the rest of the race, Ricciardo was the 3rd or 4th quickest out there. That's in a field where both McLarens and Red Bulls were at the front. What's more, the car was somewhat damaged and in less than it's optimal state.
But what really made a mark for me was the way he described his final lap, where he went from 11th to 9th, and the way he described overtaking team-mate Vergne coming out of turn 13. He sounded so confident and so on top of the job, it was seriously impressive to me. And this was with a likeable attitude too. I didn't sense any arrogance in his personality.
I remember people talking about him on here 3 years ago. I didn't know anything about how good he was, but I do remember people saying that though he seemed very good, he wasn't that amazing. I kind of go with that view a little, and hope it's wrong. I see him as the new Mark Webber, a very top driver but just lacking that little extra to be champion or one of the greats. On the surface, his HRT outings seemed to back this up. He got on terms with Liuzzi and started beating him, buuuuut... it could be argued that though he did well, maybe there wasn't much that was Senna-like, or Alonso 2001-like. But Ricciardo is a driver I'm following with interest. I hope he has a big future ahead of him and can beat Vergne next season.
Interested to know what people think about Dan... :)
Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/f1/156764-dan-ricciardo.html
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