Ricciardo ready to up the ante in second half of season

Sport360 staff 06:57 24/07/2014
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  • Constantly learning: Ricciardo has made huge strides as a driver this season.

    Daniel Ricciardo sees no reason why his confidence and number of podiums cannot continue to grow over the second half of the Formula One campaign.

    He has been one of the sensations of the season so far in the wake of his promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull as the replacement for Mark Webber.

    Ricciardo has out-qualified and out-raced reigning four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, collect­ing 106 points to the German’s 82 over the opening 10 grands prix.

    Ahead of this weekend’s Hungar­ian Grand Prix, neither man is in contention for the drivers’ title as that has become a private duel be­tween Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

    But in terms of intra-team rival­ry, Ricciardo could not have asked for more, and is convinced things can only get better after winning in Canada and finishing third on three occasions.

    He said: “For the second half of the season I should improve. I’m constantly learning, I’m still very young in my Formula One career, so I still feel I’m picking things up weekend after weekend. Naturally, with the team, I’m going to grow with them more and more, and the relationships with my engineers and the people around me are only going to improve.

    “This all then plays a part in not only car set-up, but how I then feel in terms of driving the car. It adds to the level of confidence I have when I hop in it, knowing we’ve discussed the right things and I’m in a car with a set-up both I and my engineer trust. All these things will keep coming together, and if I can get up on the podium a few more times, that will keep my con­fidence and self-belief growing.”

    Ricciardo even has the respect of double world champion Fernando Alonso following their sensational duel around the Hockenheimring during Sunday’s German Grand Prix.

    “Daniel has been a surprise since Australia. He’s fin­ished ahead of Sebastian seven times over the first 10 races, which is something probably no-one ex­pected,” said Alonso.

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