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Post by Anna on Sept 2, 2011 20:04:59 GMT
#22 Daniel RicciardoDriver InfoFull Name: Daniel Ricciardo Age: 22 Nationality: Australian Twitter: n/a Website: www.danielricciardo.com/Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_RicciardoF1 StatisticsRaces: 6 Debut: 2011 British GP Points: 0 Wins: 0 Podiums: 0 Highest Finish: 18th (2011 Hungarian GP) Pole Positions: 0 Highest Qual: 23rd (2011 Hungarian GP, 2011 Belgian GP, 2011 Italian GP & 2011 Singapore GP) Fastest Laps: 0 Drivers Championships: 0 Highest Championship Pos: n/a (Debut Season) Current Championship Pos: 27th (0 Points) Team History2011-Present: HRT Notable Achievements 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 WEC Champion 2009 British Formula 3 Champion
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Post by r1ch91 on Sept 8, 2011 14:00:12 GMT
Ricciardo optimistic of strong showing at Italian Grand Prix By Edd Straw Thursday, September 8th 2011, 11:04 GMT
Daniel Ricciardo is confident of a strong performance in this weekend's Italian Grand Prix off the back of his Formula Renault 3.5 victory at Monza in May.
The Australian, who is heading into his fifth grand prix as an HRT driver, believes that both he and team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi will be boosted by racing at the track.
"Racing here does give me a bit more confidence," said Ricciardo when asked by AUTOSPORT about whether having won here earlier in the season is a help.
"Coming to a track where you have been successful always makes you enjoy it more. I'm ready for this weekend and it's Tonio's home race as well. If we can both push each other on and get close to or in front of the Virgins, and close the gap to Lotus, that would be a good weekend."
Ricciardo is confident that the low-downforce characteristics of the track will allow HRT to be more competitive.
The team has as Monza-specification rear wing for this weekend and the Australian believes that this will allow him to take the fight to Virgin.
"The nature of the circuit should bring everyone a bit closer," he said. "It won't be a disadvantage for us and, if anything, it should be an advantage.
"I'm hoping that this is one of the races where we can really challenge our rivals."
With two independent DRS activation zones for Sunday's race, one located on the start/finish straight and one on the run between Lesmo 2 and the Ascari chicane, Ricciardo expects it to be possible to stay close to potentially quicker cars.
"The two zones will help," said Ricciardo. "As long as we can get in range because if everyone else is in them and we're not in range, then we're going to fall away quite quickly.
"If we can hang in there for the first few laps, it could definitely close things up."
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Post by Anna on Oct 22, 2011 19:18:44 GMT
Ricciardo’s F1 future clouded beyond 2011
"I’ve got the next few races"
Saturday 22 October 2011 - 16h08, by GMM Daniel Ricciardo is not relaxed about his future in formula one.
Recently seen as the natural successor to his countryman Mark Webber at Red Bull, the 22-year-old Australian has struggled to get up to speed with Vitantonio Liuzzi after replacing Narain Karthikeyan at HRT earlier this year.
The move was funded by his backers Red Bull but Ricciardo is contracted to the energy drinks company only to the end of 2011.
With Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari and Jean-Eric Vergne all also in the running for Red Bull’s junior seats at Toro Rosso, the West Australian newspaper concludes that Ricciardo’s future is clouded.
"I’ve got the next few races," said the upbeat Ricciardo on Saturday, when it was announced his teammate Liuzzi will sit out India next weekend to make way for Karthikeyan’s one-off return.
"They (the last three races) still play a part for next year, so for me it’s important to stay focused on those and not watch what the other guys are doing and what I’m doing too much off the track.
"I’ll be very disappointed if I don’t have a place next year, but it’s one of those things," he continued.
"There’s only limited space. I think obviously having Red Bull and hopefully impressing them enough this year, they’ll continue and put me in somewhere."
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Post by Anna on Dec 17, 2011 12:39:18 GMT
2011 end of term report – Daniel Ricciardo
0 point, 27th in the drivers’ championship
Tuesday 6 December 2011 - 11h36, by Sandrine Bouchard The promotion of Daniel Ricciardo by HRT meant there were two Australian drivers lining up on the starting grid for most part of the season. Member of the Red Bull Young Driver Program, Ricciardo got a wonderful gift for his 22nd birthday: his debut in the Formula One World Championship.
Season review:
Ricciardo started the year as Toro Rosso third driver and, as such, took part in Friday practices. His presence within the team was a lingering threat to the regular race drivers, Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.
However, a deal was signed with HRT to have him race for the young Spanish team as of the British Grand Prix. This was a great opportunity for him to gather valuable experience and prove his worth against a proven teammate in the form of Tonio Liuzzi.
At Silverstone, for his debut, Ricciardo qualified last and finished the race in the same position – which was pretty satisfying as his main objective was to get mileage under his belt and cross the finish line of his first ever Formula One race. The rookie was soon up to speed and matching Liuzzi. He consistently outperformed the Italian in races.
In qualifying, however, the HRT drivers were matched. Ricciardo out-qualified Liuzzi five times – Germany, Italy, Singapore, Japan and Abu Dhabi – but was out-qualified five times.
Conclusion:
Ricciardo took part to eleven Grand Prix in 2011, gathering a lot of valuable experience. He was consistent and made very few mistakes – his three retirements were forced by mechanical problems. His best results were two 18th place finishes in Hungary and India.
The Aussie is now waiting for Red Bull to decide what he will be doing next year. He was tipped to replace either Buemi or Alguersuari at Toro Rosso but it seems like the Italian team will retain both its drivers. The latest word is Ricciardo could end up replacing Jarno Trulli at Caterham.
Highs: Quickly matched Liuzzi speed-wise Positive F1 debut Very few mistakes
Lows: Was expected to outperform Liuzzi convincingly Finished behind Karthikeyan in India
Nextgen-Auto.com marks :
Olivier Ferret : 13/20 D.Thys : 10/20 Sandrine Bouchard : 12/20 Jean-Michel Setbon : 12/20 Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 11/20 Global mark : 58/100
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Post by Anna on Jan 31, 2012 17:39:49 GMT
Ricciardo yearning for points in Melbourne
31 January 2012
Although Toro Rosso is yet to discover the full capabilities of its 2012 car, which will be launched next Monday, Daniel Ricciardo hopes to be in a position to score points from the season-opening Grand Prix. Perth-born, the 22-year-old will return home to Australia after taking part in Friday free practice last year.
January 26: Ricciardo's seat fitting at Toro Rosso Part of Red Bull’s driver programme, Ricciardo was British Formula 3 Champion in 2009 before finishing a close second in 2010’s Formula Renault 3.5 series. Last year, his Formula 1 debut came with HRT at the British Grand Prix before out-qualifying and out-racing more experienced team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi on several occasions.
“We would definitely love as many points as we can,” Ricciardo told GPUpdate.net in a telephone interview. “I think it’s realistic, if the team improves again from the rate they were going last year; I think it’s fair to say that the second half of the season was strong, they improved and points were becoming much more of a regular thing. If that sort of progress is to continue, then I think we are definitely looking good for some points and hopefully some strong races.
Friday practice, 2011 “The team’s best result last year was a seventh (Jaime Alguersuari in Italy and Korea), so it would be nice to improve on that and get a top six. I think that would be a real good achievement because we all know the top three teams of the past few years – Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren - have been pretty hard to crack. So we will try to aim high but still be realistic, having assessed it more after testing.”
When asked if points by as soon as Melbourne is the current target, Ricciardo replied:
“You’ve got to aim big and go where the party is at – the party’s where the points are (laughs)! I really enjoyed practice last year and it always helps when you enjoy the layout of a circuit. So we will aim for points.”
A decade ago, F1 ran with a top six points system for the last time, as the eight highest-placed finishers scored from 2003. The current scheme, which rewards the top ten finishers, was introduced when the field increased in size two years ago.
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