Red Bull’s Ricciardo out to steal Silver Arrows’ title

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • On the up: Ricciardo is in position to make the most of any slip ups from his rivals.

    Daniel Ricciardo believes he can steal this year’s Formula One world title from under the noses of at-war Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

    From virtually nowhere, Ric­ciardo has crept up on the rails and is now within sight of Rosberg and Hamilton after winning three of the last six grands prix. Ricciardo cur­rently trails Rosberg by 64 points and Hamilton by 39 as the pair have tripped over themselves of late to bring the Australian into the run­ning with seven races remaining.

    On his debut campaign for Red Bull following his promotion from Toro Rosso, Ricciardo has per­formed wonders this season head­ing into round 13 of the champion­ship in Italy this weekend. However, the 25-year-old realistically appre­ciates it will require something spe­cial from him, and untoward from Rosberg and Hamilton, for him to deny either of the title.

    Not that he is going to let that stop him from going for it as he said: “I think I can nick it.

    “But it’s obviously going to take probably more than just winning the next seven races. It’s going to take a bit of luck as well. I’m more than two wins behind Nico, so if I come out and win two and he DNFs (did not finish), he’ll still be leading.

    “I guess I’m answering all the questions that are asked about the championship, but realistically I’m not thinking about it – if I can keep winning, then that’s awesome.”

    It is almost reaching the stage where Ricciardo may require Sebastian Vettel to give him a hand. No-one would have said or thought that at the start of the season with Vettel heading into the campaign on the back of four consecutive championship triumphs.

    “There’s no talk or signs of team orders or anything. It’s still early for that,” added Ricciardo.

    “If I’m still in this position with maybe three or four races to go then it’s probably something which will come up. I want to get through this weekend, hopefully damage limitation and not lose sight of it (the title) and if we’re still in the hunt then maybe we will have some discussions.”

    With regard to damage limita­tion, Mercedes undoubtedly have the power advantage at such a high-speed circuit as Monza, putting Red Bull in the shade. Unsurpris­ingly, Mercedes finished one-two in practice, with Rosberg ahead of Hamilton after FP2, but with Ham­ilton’s time from FP1 of one minute 26.187secs the best of the day.

    Ricciardo also endured a trou­bled day, with his car suffering engine issues in FP1, ultimately finishing eight tenths of a second shy of Hamilton’s best lap time.

    All Ricciardo can hope for tomorrow is another incident involving the pair, adding: “It’s obvious they’re not best mates, but you don’t know how big the situa­tion is.

    “For me, if they crash into each other at every race then that would impact me a lot – it would hand me the championship on a platter.”

    Hamilton was head and shoulders above his rivals in FP1, and would likely have been quickest in FP2, only to look on with frustration for over an hour as his mechanics fixed an electrical issue. The 29-year-old, who has endured his fair share of problems this year, must again have thought ‘why always me?’.

    Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso were third and fourth quickest, with McLaren’s Jenson Button – who had split the duo in FP1 – sixth overall. 

    Recommended