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Continuing on with the theme of intermittingly chronicling
various year’s Formula 1 Rookies - every few season's... Having just gone Bloody
racing Down Under Mates! Thus my newest inductee to this diverse grouping of
Rookie Gran Primo Piloto's isn't a Rookie NO More... Having been given his
Rookie Stripes 'Wayback in 2011 behind the wheel of the lowly Hispania; CRIKEYS
MATES! Remember them?
As Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo handled
himself brilliantly during last year's F1 Baptism under fire in the scorching
hot confines of thee B-I-G' BULLS, nee Red Bull Racing as reigning Quadruple
World Champion Zeb' Vettel's teammate by winning his first three Grand Prix's
while the sport's forth winningest driver scored Goose-egg's before scampering
off to Ferrari!
Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
Birthplace: Perth; Wes Australia
DOB: July 1, 1989
Age: 25
Car No. 3
Team: Red Bull
Chassis: RB11
Engine: Renault
Debut GP: 2011 British Grand Prix
EARLY YEARS...
I must confess that I'd never heard of thee young
Daniel 'Ricky Ricciardo's name until first becoming aware of his presence at
the Twenty-Oh-nine Formula 1 Young Drivers test program at Abu Dhabi, where the "Proper Young
Lions" testing has occurred over the years. As young Daniel acquitted
himself nicely aboard the RB5.
Then for 2010, Ricciardo ‘Blitzed the
aspiring ‘Hot Schue’s whilst being afforded the chance of piloting the
Championship winning Red Bull RB6; CRIKEYS! Can we already be on the RB10? OOPS!
Now it's the RB11 as another year's slipped by; but I digress, since obviously
I'm getting ahead of the story, eh!
Typical of nearly all aspiring F1 racers,
Daniel began Go Karting at the somewhat late age of nine before graduating to
Single Seaters in his native 'Oz, making an most auspicious start with
extremely dated equipment, i.e.; 15yr old Van Dieman for his first outing in
Formula Ford, followed up with a leased 13yr old "Rattle-trap!"
Next, the young 'Aussie won a scholarship to
compete in Formula BMW Asia, where he scored his first two wins.
Then Daniel moved to Formula Renault, where
he focused upon the European and Italian championships and in 2008 won the
Formula Renault WEC title along with finishing runner-up to some
"Finn" with the initials VB (Valtteri Bottas) in the Formula Renault Europecup
championship.
For '09 Ricciardo moved to Formula 3, driving
for Carlin Motorsport, where he promptly obliterated the field en route to his
second championship title by some 80+ points!
Afterwards, TEC-1 confirmed him for their
2010 Formula Renault 3.5 (World Series by Renault) assault, where the 'Aussie
performed brilliantly. And at one point was an astounding six-for-twelve (50%)
in Poles. Also entering the season's final race tied for the title with
eventual champion Mikhail
Aleshin, who overtook him in the season finale to
beat him to the title by a scant two points!
FORMULA 1
Daniel Ricciardo, with the monetary backing
of "Deeter Majestik's" (Dietrich Mateschitz)
energy drinks (slush fund) made his proper Formula 1 race debut at the 2011 British
Grand Prix for Hispania Racing, replacing thee “Speediest Indian,” aka Narain
Karthikeyan; his moniker being bestowed by HRT F1 Team Boss Dr. Colin Kolles,
upon being called-up from Formula Renault...
It was during the British GP (Me Thinks,
since 'Twenty-eleven is a long time ago & I've forgotten this...) that the
SPEED {StatRat” pointed out that there hadn’t been two ‘Aussies on an F1 Grid
since 1977, when Alan Jones (Shadow) and Vern Schuppan (Surtees) contested the
1977 Dutch GP at Zolder.
Although I’m not sure if this is technically
correct since I’ve seen the classification NQ (Did NOT Qualify) next to
Schuppan’s name for this event. Nevertheless this is counted as Schuppan’s
final Grand Prix race, so hence – we’ll just take solitude that two Aussies did
indeed participate and That’s That, right?
Thus, we'd be privileged with having two men
from 'Oz on the F1 grid the next two-plus
years with Mark 'Handlebarz Webber and Ricciardo; Webber in what 'Claudio
denotes the "Big Bulls" and Ricciardo predominantly in the 'lil
Bulls, aka Red Bull's 'lil 'Seester Scuderia Toro Rosso 2012-13. As
appropriately, Ricciardo scored his maiden F1 points by overtaking his
team-mate Vergne on the final lap in Albert Park for ninth place at the 2012
Australian GP.
Toro Rosso retained its 2012 driver pairing
for '13 before Red Bull elevated Ricciardo to the retiring Webber's seat
alongside four times reigning F1 world champion Seb' Vettel for 2014.
As we all know, the always grinning
Australian thoroughly outshone Vettel, who's been called "the Smiling Assassin,"
being the only driver besides the Blitzkrieg "Silver Arrows" Boyz,
i.e.; Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton to score a win last year. With
Ricciardo securing his first three Grand Prix 'W's, first at Circuit Gilles
Villeneuve. Then in a dazzling
performance at the Hungaroring and finally at the mighty Spa-Francorchamps,
where an Aussie hadn't sprayed champagne atop the rostrum since 'Ol Blackjack,
nee Sir Jack Brabham in 1960!
And that's without even discussing the
farcical home race where the FIA and Race Stewards let the overjoyed crowd go
home thinking Ricciardo had become the
first Homeboy to stand atop the podium with an excellent runner-up finish that
was overturned the following day due to the Red Bull's fuel flow violation.
Yet the young Daniel went onto finish a
fantastic third in the 2014 F1 Driver's points standings - while Vettel scurried
off to la Scuderia with his tail between his legs, albeit not to mention a very
pleasing Pay-cheque in order to drive for the Prancing Horse in '15 alongside
his good buddy Kimi, while Ricciardo will face the renewed assault of Russian
Young Lion Daniil Kvyat, who was elevated
from Toro Rosso after Vettel's announcement of leaving Milton Keynes at the end of last year...
