Tag: Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo’s hopes of landing the plumb Red Bull Racing seat in 2014 are improving by the day it would seem. And it appears we won’t have long to find out if he’s got the gig.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Dietrich Mateschitz told Autosport, that an announcement isn’t far away. “There is no decision yet, and it is still under discussion within the team. It will be announced after Budapest,” the Red Bull owner said.

“But Ricciardo did an excellent job at Silverstone, and [Jean-Eric] Vergne was very good,” Mateschitz added.

Daniel set the fastest lap of the day during testing at Silverstone last week. That time was set in the morning session when he was driving for Toro Rosso. After switching to the Red Bull Racing garage over his short lunch break he backed up his morning performance with the third quickest time of the day.

Jean-Eric Vergne believes he’s still a chance to land the job at Red Bull, but it would appear as though it’s a straight fight between Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen.

With Louts on the brink of securing new investors it’s looking more likely that Kimi could elect to stay with his current team for 2014. And that would be a great boost to Daniel’s chances of replacing fellow Australian Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

It’s official, well, as official as it’s ever going to get: it’s Daniel Ricciardo v Kimi Raikkonen in the chase for Mark Webber’s seat at Red Bull Racing.

Confirmation came from Christian Horner ahead of today’s test session at Silverstone. “We’re very keen to have a look at Daniel as a prospect for next year,” Horner told Sky Sports. “Obviously there is a great deal of interest in the seat, but it’s an opportunity to have a look at Daniel and for him to do some of our tyre-testing work in our RBR car. It’s a great opportunity for him.”

When Horner was asked directly if it was a straight out fight between Daniel and Kimi, he replied: “Essentially, probably.”

Kimi Raikkonen is still the bookies’ favourite to land the gig, but Daniel’s prospects have clearly improved in recent weeks.

“You have to look at what these drivers have at their disposal and for sure both Jean-Eric and Daniel are very quick drivers, and we have an opportunity to take a closer look at Daniel which is why we have chosen to exercise that and get him in the car,” Horner added.

We know that Red Bull has an internal target of 200 points from whoever partners Sebastian Vettel next year and Kimi is clearly capable of reaching that target.

“Kimi’s track record speaks for itself and he’s a championship contender as we speak. We’re in a fortunate position in that not only are we attracting fantastic drivers like Kimi but we’ve also got the opportunity to look at the drivers we have been nurturing in the likes of Daniel,” said Horner.

“We get paid based on where we are in the Constructors’ Championship so therefore we want the fastest and best drivers we can get in the car. We’ll take our time to make sure that whoever fills Mark’s shoes—and they are big shoes to fill—is the right choice for the team.”

[Source: Sky Sports | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

Daniel Ricciardo will need to convince Red Bull Racing hierarchy he is capable of delivering the team 200 championship points if he is to secure a drive with them in 2014, Autosport reports.

“Red Bull is not a team that can afford to be swayed by personal preference, a hunch, or a beaming Australian smile,” the Autosport article says. “It is cold-hard statistics that will count for its verdict.”

A total of 200 points would be no small task for the 24-year-old Australian. There is likely to be 20 races on the 2014 F1 race calendar, so on average Red Bull expects whoever replaces Mark Webber to finish fifth or better in every race. As it stands right now Daniel best ever race finish is seventh. With a better car and a better resourced team this should be achievable, although the pressure to perform will be immense.

Red Bull Racing has won three constructors’ championships in a row. In that time Mark Webber delivered 242, 258 and 179 points respectively in the years 2010–2012.

You would think the other reported Red Bull target, Kimi Raikkonen, would be more than able to meet the points criteria for Red Bull. Whether he would be willing to give up the freedom offered by Lotus to meet the promotional demands that go with being a Red Bull driver is another matter altogether.

It won’t be conclusive, of course, but if Daniel can put in a good performance with Red Bull at Silverstone today, on and off the track, that can only help his chances of promotion in 2014.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]