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Is ''top driver'' Ricciardo really such a top driver? A look at his F1 career

Is ''top driver'' Ricciardo really such a top driver? A look at his F1 career

09-06-2022 18:55 Last update: 19:11
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GPblog.com

Daniel Ricciardo is one of the highest earning drivers in Formula 1 and the Australian is mostly praised for his spontaneity. However, his results have been disappointing lately, he pales next to teammate Lando Norris. It raises the question of how good Ricciardo actually is or has been. GPblog tried to formulate an answer to that question.

Ricciardo joined Red Bull after two and a half years, two of which were with the then Toro Rosso. The driver from Perth was not known as the new Michael Schumacher, but a talent he was. In any case, his big dream of becoming a world champion does not seem to be coming true. The arrival of Max Verstappen seems to have killed him, according to several factors. Or was Ricciardo simply never good enough?

For years Ricciardo was known in the premier class of motor racing as a qualifying beast. The driver from Perth would always have been very fast over one lap. For this, we look at all the qualifying duels Ricciardo completed in his career in Formula One. It gives a solid picture because the first reference of a driver is always his teammate. After all, the same car is driven.

Qualifying duels Ricciardo

2012: Ricciardo-Vergne 15-4
2013: Ricciardo-Vergne 15-5
2014: Ricciardo-Vettel 12-7
2015: Ricciardo-Kyvat 12-7
2016: Ricciardo-Verstappen 11-6
2017: Ricciardo-Verstappen 7-13
2018: Ricciardo-Verstappen 5-16
2019: Ricciardo-Hulkenberg 14-7
2020: Ricciardo-Ocon 15-2
2021: Ricciardo-Norris 7-14
2022: Ricciardo-Norris 1-6
(The 2011 season is not included because it was only half a year)

The term 'qualifying beast' does indeed seem to be true up to and including 2016. Over a full season, he was never slower than his teammate until then. However, the arrival of Verstappen and Norris in Formula 1 has made it very clear that Ricciardo's has been surpassed on pure speed by the new generation. In 2017, Ricciardo faced this for the first time. Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon were still being driven around the ears, but Norris simply cannot be kept up. It is not surprising that Ocon is beaten by a wide margin because the Frenchman did not have a seat in Formula 1 the year before. Moreover, it was already Ricciardo's second season at Renault and so he was already used to it.

Making a comparison with a George Russell or Charles Leclerc simply won't do. It seems that Ricciardo can keep up with the midfield like an Ocon, but tipping the scales to the big (future) stars Ricciardo does not and perhaps never really did. This statistic is the first proof that Ricciardo cannot be counted among the best drivers in Formula 1. Over the first seven Grand Prix of this season, Ricciardo was on average about four-tenths slower than teammate Norris, particularly painful. And that's not even counting the GP of Imola due to wet conditions. Only at Alfa Romeo and Williams are the differences between the drivers greater.

How is Ricciardo doing in the World Championships?

2012: Ricciardo P18 | Vergne P17 (-1)
2013: Ricciardo P14 | Vergne P15 (+1)
2014: Ricciardo P3 | Vettel P5 (+2)
2015: Ricciardo P8 | Kvyat P7 (-1)
2016: Ricciardo P3 | Verstappen P5 (+2)-
2017: Ricciardo P5 | Verstappen P6 (+1)-
2018: Ricciardo P6 | Verstappen P4 (-2)-
2019: Ricciardo P9 | Hulkenberg P14 (+5)-
2020: Ricciardo P5 | Ocon P12 (+7)-
2021: Ricciardo P8 | Norris P6 (-2)

As a driver you always want to beat your teammate in qualifying, because that shows you have more speed, but ultimately the points for the world championship are only distributed on Sunday. If we look purely at the numbers, it's not all that impressive. In 2012, he had to beat Jean Eric Vergne, and a year later he finished just one place higher in the World Championship than the Frenchman (P14 to P15). Ricciardo's best season was perhaps 2014 when he managed to beat four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel. He finished in third place, Vettel had to make do with fifth.

In 2016 Ricciardo finished higher than Verstappen, but that also has to do with the fact that he had more Grands Prix time at Red Bull while Verstappen was still racing for Toro Rosso. In 2017 he does cleverly collect more points than Verstappen, finishing fifth in the World Cup behind the Mercedes and Ferrari. The following year, however, he was trounced by Verstappen. In 2019 and 2020, he finishes above Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon respectively at Renault, but in the service of McLaren, Norris is clearly the better of the two on Sunday as well. Ricciardo does not even come close to Norris in terms of points, and this year he is already a street length behind.

Salary Ricciardo

2016-2018 | Red Bull: per season $6 million
2019-2020 | Renault: per season $27.5 million with bonuses rising to $10 million
2021-2022 | McLaren: per season $15 million

With fifteen million dollars per season, Ricciardo is among the top-five earners in Formula 1, but he is certainly not worth that money at the moment. Teammate Norris earns around the same amount after his contract extension through 2025, but if we look at how expensive on average a World Championship point is from Ricciardo for McLaren you will be left staggering. In that respect, Norris is worth almost four times his money to his employer.

Convincing Ricciardo doesn't do it

All in all, it is perhaps the outside world that has created the image that Ricciardo can be counted among the top drivers in Formula 1. In 2015, he failed to beat torpedo Kvyat over an entire season. The following year he wins over someone (Max Verstappen) who suddenly finds himself in a whole new team midway through the year. Then in 2017, he does finish ahead of Verstappen in the World Cup, but in the qualifying duel, he proves to be hopeless with a 7-13. Sometimes you have to have some luck on Sunday too.

In 2018, Ricciardo no longer has much to say to his Dutch stablemate anyway. He 'flees' to Renault and then beats Nico Hulkenberg there, the Hulkenberg who has not been a regular in Formula 1 for three seasons for good reason. In 2020, Ocon has nothing to contribute, but that is also largely due to the fact that the Frenchman was forced to sit on the sidelines for a year. Ricciardo's story at McLaren is well known: it is little to nothing for the time being.

How long will Ricciardo last?

Not only the statistics but also the feeling seems to say that Ricciardo is past his prime. Where Ferrari and Mercedes cautiously showed their interest in Ricciardo's 'prime' (around 2017), these two teams obviously now have absolutely no interest in the current world championship number eleven. A return to Red Bull is not in the cards either. In fact, McLaren may want to get rid of Ricciardo early.

He does not have many options, because being shown the door before the end of your contract is not good for anyone's reputation. Ricciardo will have to hope for Aston Martin if, for example, Sebastian Vettel leaves. The team of Lawrence Stroll could use someone who brings smiles to their faces, if not with results on the track, then with his humour.