Daniel Ricciardo faces rough crossroads

Formula One News: DANIEL Ricciardo’s desperate position has been laid bare by a Formula 1 guru, who’s exposed the hidden dangers of a move to Mercedes or Ferrari.

DANIEL Ricciardo is damned if he moves and damned if he doesn’t.

Red Bull rising star Max Verstappen’s 2017 powerplay to transform Red Bull into a team that centres around him has left the 28-year-old Australian in a desperate position heading into the final year of his contract with the outfit that discovered him.

Following the announcement of Verstappen’s contract extension through to the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has repeatedly said the team is prepared to wait for Ricciardo to make his intentions known.

He’s also repeatedly said the team is confident Ricciardo will choose to stay because of the RB13’s improved performance this season and the team’s promise to allow him and Verstappen to race each other without preferential treatment or team orders.

Horner has sneakily suggested Ricciardo won’t get such luxuries if he decides to move to Ferrari or Mercedes at the end of the 2018 season.

Ricciardo’s difficult decision has been outlined by veteran Formula 1 journalist James Allen, who has reported Red Bull faces an uphill battle to retain the Aussie larrikin,

“That is going to be tricky for two reasons,” he said of Horner’s declaration Ricciardo will choose to stay at Red Bull.

“Verstappen is a once in a generation talent, who at 19 was regularly out-qualifying Ricciardo and now at 20, with some reliability in his car, is beating (Lewis) Hamilton and (Sebastian) Vettel.

“Also history suggests that the Red Bull management rallies around its ‘chosen one’ and there’s little doubt that is now Verstappen. I don’t blame them, I would have moved heaven and earth to keep him too.

“So Ricciardo’s path to becoming a world champion is not clear.”

He said any move to Ferrari or Mercedes would require him to start as the No. 2 driver in the team.

Ricciardo famously outmanoeuvred Sebastian Vettel in his first year at Red Bull — forcing the German champion to make a move to Ferrari.

Despite this, Allen says Ricciardo would have to play second fiddle to Vettel at Ferrari.

“Over at Ferrari Kimi Raikkonen has had a decent year, but there were several occasions, like Budapest and some would argue Monaco, where his own ambitions were overlooked by the team in the pursuit of the drivers’ title for Vettel,” Allen said.

“That’s how Ferrari roll and if you are going to be the number two driver there you have to accept that some times; it comes with the blazer, the tie and the company car. Can you see Ricciardo accepting that?”

Horner last week said both Verstappen and Ricciardo will get a chance to battle Hamilton for the world championship next year.

Skysports.com reports Horner believes his team should feel confident about challenging Mercedes next year after Verstappen’s hot streak of winning two of the past four grands prix heading into this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.

Verstappen has won two of the last four races and Horner believes Red Bull have been the fastest car on a Sunday in that time — and will be in even better shape next season if Renault improve their engine performance.

“If we can take the lessons learned out of the RB13 into the RB14 — and with better reliability — I don’t see any reason why both of our drivers shouldn’t be able to give Lewis and Sebastian a hard time,” the Red Bull team boss told Sky Sports News’ Craig Slater.

Horner has paid tribute to Hamilton’s “phenomenal achievement” in taking this year’s title, but is adamant that his two race-winning drivers should be able to run the Mercedes man closer next year.

“[Hamilton] is obviously right at the top of his game so hopefully he will be around for a few more years,” he added.

“But I think in Max, in Daniel, in Seb, you have got some fantastic drivers there that are able to go wheel to wheel.

“I feel very confident in our drivers having the ability to do that if we can give them the tools to go shoulder to shoulder with him and hopefully have a great fight which will be great for the sport.”

Having qualified 1.3 seconds off pole position at the season-opening race in March, Red Bull’s strong in-season development rate has proved one of the season’s most impressive feats.

Verstappen in particular has relished that shift in form, enjoying a 2017 turnaround of his own after the first half of his season was blighted by a lack of reliability.

And Horner sees the Dutchman, who has now won three grands prix, as a rival to Hamilton in the future, already proving that he is a “champion in waiting”.

“Sebastian achieved four in a row with us, he’s only just 30,” he said.

“Lewis has just achieved four, he’s in his early 30s and one would assume that he’s going to achieve more.

“Max is only 20. I think if we can give him a competitive car, he absolutely is a champion in waiting. You can see in the great drivers that they stand out at big moments and Max is doing exactly that.”

Category: Formula One