7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Daniel Ricciardo

When I set out to write this thing, I had intended not to post two drivers from the same team but I really had no other choice because as much as I prefer Jean-Eric Vergne, I still really like Daniel Ricciardo.

As previously mentioned when I covered Vergne at the start of the week, I have been impressed with both Toro Rosso driver's this season. With Mark Webber opting to leave Formula 1 at the end of the year, after titan names like Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso Red Bull have been considering their sister team for younger talent.

As time goes on and as Spa looms upon us, the odds tell us that Red Bull will announce their new driver for next season at the weekend, but this is still speculation and not my opinion. German and Finnish newspapers seemed to have gotten mixed up in their media circus as one said Kimi was going nowhere and the other said he's signed the Red Bull contract. Today his manager has said he will not be joining Red Bull.

The way Alonso is getting on, it looks as though he wants out of Ferrari, but I honestly can't see Sebastian Vettel liking that too much, he'll probably run and cry to Helmut Marko if Alonso steps anywhere near a Red Bull building. 

That only leaves two people and considering the hype has always surrounded Ricciardo and not Vergne, despite the Frenchman being more successful, it looks as if Ricciardo is stepping up in the world for 2014.

So hypothetically, what can Ricciardo bring to Red Bull that Mark Webber lacked?

Fantastic qualifying. He has made it into Q3 four times this season and has scored well in two of the races where he started quite high up on the grid. If he hopes to better Vettel he'll need to do this on a consistent basis.

There's not that much difference between Webber and Ricciardo. Both Australian's are great fun, they both have fantastic personalities and smiles, the fans love them and they are both dedicated drivers. I just worry that Ricciardo will be bred as another number 2. 

It could be a totally different story when he gets there. He could turn up to race one next year and take the whole world by storm. Two years separate him and Vettel, so if there's anything Vettel can do, Ricciardo should be able to do it just as well in a Newey designed car.

Let's just hope Red Bull learnt the meanings of the words 'biased' and 'equality' before next season.

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Jean-Eric Vergne

When Mark Webber announced he was leaving Formula 1 at the end of the year, speculation immediately turned to the sister Red Bull team Toro Rosso and their young talents.

Despite scoring more points than Daniel Ricciardo this season, Jean-Eric Vergne has failed to finish four races this season while Ricciardo has only retired from two, one being Monaco where he was shafted majorly. It is because of this and Ricciardo's supreme qualifying results that has saw Jean-Eric Vergne being overlooked for the Red Bull seat.

Rumours in the world of F1 have suggested that heavyweights such as Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso have pushed JEV off the short-list entirely, and looks to be staying with Toro Rosso next season.

To me it's a huge shame that the Red Bull hierarchy (Christian Horner, Adrian Newey, Helmut Marko and The Godfather, Dietrich Mateschitz) have chosen to review Ricciardo's progress rather than JEV's.

Regular readers will be aware that I like Ricciardo and have nothing other than positive things to say about the young man. That being said 10 out of 10 times I would pick Jean-Eric Vergne for the simple season of him scoring more points. I think over the course of a season, JEV has the energy and the will to provide over an entire season. This was always Mark Webber's problem, he would do well in parts but under perform in others.

While he may not have been a superstar in 2013, Vergne has definitely continued to deliver time and time again and even though he looks to have lost out, he still remains committed to his own personal cause.  

The Story So Far... Part Two

Last time out, I covered the progress of the majority of the rookie drivers in the Marussia and Caterham teams, along with Valtteri Bottas and his experienced team mate Pastor Maldonado in the Williams.

The midfield last season was extremely tight with Sauber making an immense leap forward in terms of pace and podium finishes. Force India showed us how far they have come and Toro Rosso put their young talent on display with just the one driver breaking through. All these teams (excluding Toro Rosso) have swapped about drivers but no driver change was as big when it was announced Lewis Hamilton would take over from Michael Schumacher who was forced into retirement by the move. 

Toro Rosso
The Red Bull feeder team has always been known for hiring rookies to promote to the bigger team, but in recent years they have failed to find any talent worth of replacing Mark Webber.

Last year, Daniel Ricciardo was heavily promoted as the more talented driver but he was consistently beaten by Jean-Eric Vergne's driving ability. This year the team has made a much improved leap forward, the same can be said for both drivers.

Eventually, Toro Rosso will ditch these two boys, I reckon they won't have bother finding work in Formula 1.

Daniel Ricciardo
His season didn't get off to the best start with the first two races, but his qualifying magic was duly present in China this year when he qualified 7th and finished 7th. Usually when a team achieves that kind of result on Saturday, it turns out to be a nightmare on Sunday, so he done a great job holding it all up.

With more people noticing JEV's talents, the pressure has been lifted off Daniel, which can only be a good thing.

He needs to focus on trying to beat his team mate. When a seat eventually becomes vacant at Red Bull, this is how he will be judged, and at the minute, the ball is in JEV's court.

Jean-Eric Vergne
I have always thought JEV (great nickname) has been a great driver. Considering he's only 3 points off last season's total already speaks for itself.

His qualifying performances have improved quite dramatically, and his scoring points more consistently is achievable because of a great car.

He is the ideal candidate to succeed Mark Webber because he has no ego and a great fan base. Should he keep this up, championship opportunities will be plentiful.

Force India
Me and this team did not get off to the best start this year. The fact they waited until the last minute to announce their second driver was extremely disrespectful.

When Adrian Sutil was unveiled, an opportunity had been missed in the form of Jules Biachi. His raw pace should have been shown in this car, not a lacklustre Marussia.

Monaco was a high point for the team with both drivers proving overtaking is possible.

Adrian Sutil
Instead of a world championship, Sutil has something more unique to his name, an ASBO. I'm not a fan of Sutil or second chances. The fact he got one annoys me when there were better options.

It's hard to argue though that this driver decision didn't work. So far he has proved he can still compete with the best that the midfield has to offer, and staying out of the spotlight has not hurt his reputation.

It's hard to say what's in store for him. The fact he has only ever driven for Force India (and their two previous outfit names) has to say something about what other teams think of him. His aim for the season should be to stay out of Paul's way.

Paul di Resta
2013 was a great start for the Scot, but then someone in his team said "let's f--k everything up." Seriously though the amount of mistakes made by his garage is ridiculous.

Then people criticise Paul for hitting out at them?! He has every right to be outraged. di Resta is going places in the world, but he is being let done by his own team. Engineers being paid thousands and then not being able to count and do their job?!

Despite all this, Paul has scored points in every round bar Malaysia. The battle is equal between him and Sutil so far, but as the season progresses so will Paul. In addition, the team will need to clean up their act pronto.

Sauber
The Swiss team undoubtedly managed to steal raw talent from Force India by recruiting Nico Hulkenberg. Granted the start to their season got off to an awful start for many reasons, Nico managed to fight back before falling into another slump.

I predicted this before the start of the season. Sauber tend to have issues when carrying over momentum from one season to another. After reaching podium heights last year, they have only managed to score 5 points so far. 

The biggest mistake was not letting go of Sergio Perez, but rather Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese driver had huge talent but suffered at the hands of poor set up. They miss him greatly and instead, they hired what can only be described as a disaster.

Esteban Gutierrez 
The aforementioned disaster comes in the form of this furry (look at his eyebrows) little Mexican.

Like Perez before him, Sauber brought him in as the Mexican government funds the young driver, making him an extreme pay driver.

Let me assure you, NOTHING has payed off. He has proven to be an absolute danger to everyone around him. If he's not crashing into barriers he's crashing into title contenders such as Kimi Raikkonen.


He seems to have no awareness and once he's in the car, he acts like a newborn puppy, almost scared of his surroundings. Not to mention he's not even come close to scoring any points.

My hope is that he will be replaced soon. I can think of a number of better candidates, particularly Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen. His only purpose is bound to be his cash flow. Theey're probably keeping him around in order to gain enough money for next year, whenever Krazy Kob comes back (hopefully).

Nico Hulkenberg
The words; 'future world champion' come to mind, although that's based on his previous performances, this year it has not been great, that can be put down to the team though but not all the bucks can be passed.

He has been incredibly quiet this year, mostly scrapping from the back, very little opportunity to showcase true talent. He slumped after a double points finished but looked to be on the mend before he struck out in Canada. 

The move from Force India has not prospered for him at all and I feel bad for him. The only thing keeping Nico in the game is his dreadful team mate.

Just wait for Brazil though whenever Sebastian Vettel is trying to keep up with him around Interlagos!

Mercedes
The decision not to retain Michael Schumacher last year was painful. Love him or hate him, not hearing the name is absolutely crap.

Michael's departure was only the beginning of a board revolution. Followed out the door shortly by Norbert Haug, big names like Toto Wolff, Niki Lauda and reportedly, Paddy Lowe all joined to create an all star package of money, personality and brains. Team principle Ross Brawn has supposedly been cut out of the picture. His departure is still not for certain.

Despite the heavy hitters added to the background, the biggest talent on the grid joined (Fernando Alonso is all tied up at Ferrari) in the form of Lewis Hamilton.

I'm not one bit ashamed to admit I said that Mercedes were going to buckle under the weight of their own ambition this year and to be fair, the first two races they did.

Then the string of pole positions came. I was proven wrong, they had one lap speed. But race pace? Dreadful. 

Nobody could have predicted that they would be involved in the biggest scandal so far this year, but I'll have more on tyre gate soon.

Lewis Hamilton
The move away from McLaren must have hurt Lewis at a personal level. But there is no doubt it was a lucky one. He moved from disaster into an environment where he can be Lewis.

He's still looking for this first Mercedes win, but his pole positions were quite frequent. It's just the cars awful ability to look after the tyres. The situation really came home in Barcelona when he snapped back saying [to his engineer] "I can't go any slower."

Considering the majority of the rest of the season is filled with permanent race tracks (harder on tyre wear) he will struggle to find that first win. Rest assure, it will happen.

The best thing about Lewis this season is his new dog, Roscoe. SO ADORABLE (I'm a dog lover).

Nico Rosberg
I am very, very glad Nico got the first win for the all new Mercedes this year. There was too much hype and attention over Lewis. Autosport at a four page article nearly every week about him and it got sickening.

Nico managed to achieve three consecutive pole positions and the (supposed) biggest win of the year at Monaco, thirty years after his father. 

The season has been great to him so far. His tyre management is significantly better than Lewis's, although a lot off the field.

Backing both drivers never worked for Mercedes in the past, but it's not possible to back Nico over Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, that was never going to happen. Solace should be found in what he has achieved so far. Moving to another team around Mercedes where he is the number one focus would definitely benefit his career.

Remember, McLaren will be joining forces with Honda again and even though I am sceptical, it could bring back wonderful feelings to the team. I don't think they will want to keep Jenson Button or Perez around any longer. 

Nico Rosberg could easily find his Nirvana at McLaren.

Barcelona: Day Four

It's hard to think that in three weeks time we get the 2013 season started in Melbourne. It's been a long winter testing, and Formula 1's first of three visits (two tests and the Spanish Grand Prix) to Barcelona for testing concludes having provided us with some terrific lap times. Unfortunately, most of the day was dominated by rain.

Final Standings

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m23.282s
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) – 1m23.633s
3. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) – 1m24.071s
4. Jules Bianchi (Force India) – 1m25.732s
5. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber) – 1m26.239s
6. Giedo van der Garde (Caterham) – 1m27.429s
7. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 1m27.563s
8. Mark Webber (Red Bull) – 1m27.616s
9. Max Chilton (Marussia) – 1m29.902s
10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus) – 1m34.800s
11. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) – no time
12. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) – no time

Red flag waving was common practice today as the rain made the track wet and slippery. It wouldn't be right to read too much into today's session, but at least we had a small indication of how the 2013 models handle in the wet. All quick laps were done in the morning with Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton setting the quickest, 0.3s off former McLaren team mate Jenson Button. Jean-Eric Vergne seems to have gotten Toro Rosso's great testing form back on track as he said he had "another productive day, even with the rain."

Williams had no time set due to practising pit-stops and other pit protocols.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne all ended up in the gravel after sliding off which incurred red flags. Romain Grosjean finished Lotus's poor Barcelona form off with a resounding 10th place finish. Hopefully by the time of the second test here, the Enstone team will have everything looked and and fixed as they really need to hit the ground running down under.

Sono Toro Rosso Pazzo?

Are Toro Rosso Crazy?

This blog comes before most of the Formula 1 teams launch their 2013 cars and it got me thinking about the Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso. Don't ask me how, my mind works in mysterious ways.

Toro Rosso entered Formula 1 in 2006 when the Minardi team sold it's last stock over to Dietrich Mateschitz who owns the Red Bull beverage company and Toro Rosso's parent team Red Bull Racing (now Infiniti Red Bull Racing). The concept behind the team was to provide talent for the championship running team Red Bull. This is known as a "feeder team." Running V10 Cosworth engines in the 2006 season was a slight hiccup because the rest of the field were using V8 engines. However Toro Rosso managed to get out of it by using their poor financial situation as an excuse but this did not give them an advantage. Instead, the rest of the grid had developed the V8 engines to the point where they were more effective. However for 2007 the team ditched Cosworth and bought  Ferrari engines. After this they were known as Scuderia Toro Rosso, or STR for short.

Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed were the first two drivers after Liuzzi had a brief stint at Red Bull and Scott Speed was the selected driver from Red Bulls American Driver search. Neither driver made much of an impact and eventually Speed was replaced by none other than Sebastian Vettel. Vettel went on to get Toro Rosso's first and only race win in 2008 at Monza. His future success is objectional depending on how fickle you are.

The point of this blog is aimed at how Toro Rosso back their drivers. I feel sometimes it's unfair and often biased. It always seems to me that one driver is given a bigger back than the other. Take 2012 for example. Going back to 2011 before that, Daniel Ricciardo was given a break from being Toro Rosso test driver in 2010 and was handed a short spell driving for Hispania. He was dubbed the future Sebastian Vettel and there was a lot of hype surrounding him so no surprise he got a seat for Toro Rosso for the 2012 season. His partner was Jean-Éric Vergne, who had been the test driver in 2011. There was almost no mention of any future prospects for JEV, but presumably there shouldn't have to be any if you've been selected for Toro Rosso.

Yet despite the hype and media coverage surrounded his supposed future success, Ricciardo scored less points than his team mate. Granted he finished more races then Vergne and his scoring was more consistent, but Vergne scored higher points and in my opinion provide far more exciting moments. Ricciardo just appears cardboard in his driving, he's boring. Red Bull and Toro Rosso definately got it wrong when backing their drivers. It's also not the first time.

Despite scoring less points than his team mate, Jaime Alguersuari was a far more exciting driver than Sebastian Buemi (who was again supposed to be another Sebastian Vettel, although why anybody would want to be Sebastian Vettel is absolutely beyond me). Granted Buemi is now Red Bull test and reserve driver, Alguersuari is getting more running time when he tests for Pirelli, thus keeping him updated in a Formula 1 car. Had he got more of a backing from Toro Rosso he might even be in a full time drive now. These two drivers are also an example of how harsh and rash Toro Rosso can be. They both had decent seasons in 2011, but they were both discarded straight after whenever team principal Franz Tost decided that Toro Rosso were to become a young driver school. Does this mean that JEV and Ricciardo can be disposed of just as quickly? Only time can tell.

A possible solution to this is to adopt and operate an equal drivers policy. If you have no ambition to win world championships (Toro Rosso as a team overall) then why not say to both drivers "right, you're here to showcase your driving talents, show me what you've got," and then give each driver an equal playing field by giving them the same car parts, the same updates and development paths and parts and by telling them they are racing each other. Make it as even as is humanly possible for each of the drivers to see who really can be a future champion. That way there's no bias, no control and more importantly it'll provide real racing between two young stars. I think that can provide Toro Rosso with a platform to really prove their existence worth while.

You only need to go to the Toro Rosso website to see who has the bigger push. Ricciardo's photo is always on the site, and it's always him in interviews. But I understand some decisions may not ultimately rest in the hands of Toro Rosso and Franz Tost. Dietrich Mateschitz is a ruthless sports and Motorsport enthusiast, and more importantly a real winner at heart. There could be unbelievable pressure from him after the money he's invested in one driver over another and therefore he'd like to give him an advantage. But honestly I believe he'd like to see who's the best in an even playing field.

My 2012 Season Review Part 1

What a season it has been! We've seen 7 different winners in the first 7 races, Alonso and Ferrari fooling us all and Kimi handed out some more ice creams. The reason why this is coming so late is because I never knew how successful this blog was going to be! For this, I thank you all.

The 9 awards have been carefully selected by my wonderful self by watching extensive footage of the 2012 season. I'll be naming the 2 runner ups before the winner of each award so you have an idea of how difficult the choices were. Here are the first 5 awards, please join me for Part 2 where I'll name the rest of the winners!

The first award goes to the driver who came out with the funniest line that made me laugh out loud hard. Here are the runners up for the Quote Of The Year Award.

Sergio Perez

"He is a driver who does not respect [others]. Doesn't he know we are risking our lives? He's just a stupid driver."

Regarding the incident where Pastor Maldonado took him out of the race at Silverstone. This made me laugh so hard at first but at the time highlighted a serious issue, he was a very dangerous driver who does not think. Nonetheless, Checo was spot on!

Mark Webber

"It was that first lap nut case Grosjean again."

Mark the Shark hitting out at his premature retirement at the hands of the maniac Grosjean. The thing is, if you asked Mark the same question today, he'd still give the same answer, proving it wasn't in the heat of the moment. Rather, it was an accurate assessment of a dangerous driver who had a ban not so long ago.



And the award goes to...

KIMI RAIKKONEN

Could it honestly be anybody else? Being a DIE HARD Iceman fan, I watched the Abu Dhabi GP on the edge of my seat, breaking out in sweats and fits of fear. Then, with one quick, smooth radio transmission, I knew he was going to go on to win the race. This is actually a picture of the shirt I own, I love him so much and he completed my season by winning the race, and giving us all something to remember it by.


Also, this happens to be one of the funniest interviews he's ever given and nearly made the cut.


The Rookie Of The Year Award goes to the driver who impressed me on his first season at the top of Motorsport. Before I announce the winner, here's the runner up.

Charles Pic

To be fairly honest, it was between him and the eventual winner. And Pic lost. Without going in to detail why, read my previous blog on my feelings about Pic.



And the award goes to...

Jean-Éric Vergne

Considering his team mate Ricciardo had the biggest hype about him, JEV has came into the sport and not only stole the spotlight, he also secured his seat with the Red Bull feeder team Toro Rosso. Out scoring his team mate by 6 points and showing he could race wheel to wheel with cars near the same capability as his own, Vergne has proved he belongs in the sport.

The next award goes to the driver who made that jaw dropping pass. You know, the one that made you exude vast amounts of swear words? Yep that one. I watched a ton of Youtube videos to make a short list for this category, and even then it took me hours to come up with a top 3. The first of our 2 runners up is maybe debatable but other than that the one after and the winner are well deserved, some would say they could even be swapped around. Here are your runners up for Overtake Of The Year.

Lewis Hamilton, Canada. The moves on both Vettel and Alonso may not have been the flashiest, but it was the fact he was in a different pit window, he was 6 seconds behind and he still managed the win. The video also contains a double overtake by Sergio Perez.

Felipe Massa, Singapore. This makes the list purely for one reason. The move could either have gone as it did, scary, dodgy but really cool looking. OR, it could have ended in a massive crash and Felipe's expulsion from the team. He held it well and it payed off. To be honest, it was Rob Smedley's facial expression after it that made it for me.


And the award goes to...
KIMI RAIKKONEN, SPA. The King of Spa may not have won, but he certainly proved with this overtake on the illustrious Eau Rouge corner that he is more than deserving of the crown. Kimi doesn't just pass drivers because there's a gap or slipstream, he overtakes after evaluating every situation with precision. He knew he could only get Michael at that [articular time so he'd have the DRS to escape a retaliation. The man is a genius, no way around it.


This next award is quite personal, and is only based on my emotions. My Moment Of The Year Award goes to the one time in the season where my heart strings were well and truly tugged. The runners up included the Japanese chanting Kamui Kobayashi's name and God himself, Michael Schumacher achieving pole at Monaco. I firmly believe if he hadn't been so foolish at the race before to receive a grid penalty, he would have won. But that's neither here nor there, my moment of the year belongs to this photo:

VALENCIA PODIUM, SCHUMACHER 3RD, RAIKKONEN 2ND, ALONSO 1ST. This picture contains the three greatest drivers of my generation. They also happen to be my 3 favourite drivers and even though I'm heartbroken to see Schumacher go, this memory will last with me forever.




Grand Prix Of The Award is the title given to the race where I felt had the most excitement and enough action to lay a mark in history. For me personally, the winner was a no brainer and I'll explain why, but it was the runners up that was so difficult! I had 17 amazing Grand Prix's to chose from (India & Singapore do not count as they are pure filth) and I really do wish I could give them all a place. But here are the runners up.

Malaysian Grand Prix 
I will never forget the moment when I heard the result. Neither will my partner, she still has the bruise from where I went mental. I could not believe that after the pre season disaster, Alonso had managed a win in a Ferrari. It's also hard to disagree with the fact that this made people sit up and look at Perez.

Brazilian Grand Prix 
Interlagos never fails to disappoint as the season closer. This year with the title closer to the wire than ever before, it threw us a massive blast of hope when Vettel spun on the opening lap thinking he won't gain another title based on the Newey factor. Regardless of the fact he did, I still loved every second, including Hulkenberg storming to the front, and Kimi getting completely lost.


But the winner has to go to the greatest experience of my life;

BRITISH GRAND PRIX
The reason why this is my winner is because it was my first Formula 1 event live. I have never experienced anything like it. To say I saw 6 world champions race on the same grid that day honestly impacted my life in only positive ways. The rain wasn't enough to get my spirits down, it added to the occassion because it's not British without rain! I was standing at Luffield on race day and witnessed Bastard Maldonado taking out Checo, Kimi chasing down the pack constantly and the best moment of the weekend, Webber's overtake on Alonso. I was routing for Alonso the whole weekend, but I cannot deny how great the move was. It wouldn't have been the same without the group of guys I was with so to Stephen, Cillein & Patrice I'd like to say thank you very much!


Well I hope you enjoyed the first set of awards. I'm sure you each have your own opinions and I would very much like to hear about them in the comments below, or on twitter @Houston60.

Here is a recap of the awards, and what awards you can expect to see soon:
QUOTE OF THE YEAR: KIMI RAIKKONEN "LEAVE ME ALONE! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING"

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: JEAN-ÉRIC VERGNE

OVERTAKE OF THE YEAR: KIMI TAKES SCHUMACHER AT EAU ROUGE

MY MOMENT OF THE YEAR: VALENCIA PODIUM

GRAND PRIX OF THE YEAR: BRITISH GRAND PRIX

The awards in Part 2:
HERO OF THE YEAR
VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
TEAM OF THE YEAR
DRIVER OF THE YEAR