Daniel Ricciardo

[AW111]

First up : congratulations to DR for an excellent season.

Where would DR be if he was a Mercedes this year?

[Scuffers]

AW111 said:

First up : congratulations to DR for an excellent season.

Where would DR be if he was a Mercedes this year?

good question?

realistically, I suspect still 3rd, yes he's a great driver, BUT he would be hard pressed to consistently beet LH and NR in his first year in the Merc - (that said, with the reliability issues, you never know).

I think no matter what, he get's my vote for driver of the year.

[Smollet]

Certainly the "find" of the season

[cayman-black]

This is the driver Ferrari should have got.

[ols]

AW111 said:

Where would DR be if he was a Mercedes this year?

Not sure, but I am fairly certain he is in fact a human being...or maybe a robot?

[Abe007]

cayman-black said:

This is the driver Ferrari should have got.

this

[davepoth]

I think he's been helped a bit this year by the lack of pressure - Red Bull will have known fairly early on that their engine was a dog and they had no chance of the championship, so he's been able to not really think about that so much. Oddly, that seems to have affected Vettel in completely the other way.

However, I think he is a great driver, and when he gets a car under him to challenge on a regular basis he'll be a champion at some point. From what I've seen there are few nicer guys it could happen to.

[samvia]

His helmet this weekend

[Jungles]

AW111 said:

First up : congratulations to DR for an excellent season.

Definitely! Looks like another WDC pick.

AW111 said:

Where would DR be if he was a Mercedes this year?

Who knows? Considering its advantage, probably anywhere between 1 to 3.

Bear in mind that drivers are sensitive to the car and environment. Button, Hamilton, Raikkonen, and now Vettel, have all gone from hero to zero at some point in their careers, due to the car, team, and/or personal issues.

Ricciardo in a Mercedes environment might have performed poorly, or the car might not have suited him, etc. In the alternative, he might have beaten them all! Fun to guess, though.

[supertouring]

I really like Ricciardo and Bottas, they both come across as really nice guys.

Would love to see these two fighting for WDC in the near future. I think both have the talent to achieve this.

[Vaud]

Smollet said:

Certainly the "find" of the season

I am tom between DR and Bottas. Both truly showing their more experienced team mates how it is done.

I remember a comment (might have been paraphrased) from Frank Williams about Bottas, "Watch him, he's the real thing"

[AW111]

Being Australian, I have been watching him from the start of his GP career.
He seems to have a good blend of caution and speed, and a refreshing lack of prima-donna attitude.

Him making Vettel look like an also-ran is a bonus.

[SlipStream77]

Abe007 said:

cayman-black said:

This is the driver Ferrari should have got.

this

Agreed, he's completely out-driven Vettel this year.