Ricciardo: 'Fight with Schumacher one of the best moments'

Daniel Ricciardo is saying goodbye to the F1 grid and will only be seen in Formula 1 next year as Red Bull Racing's reserve driver. The Australian reflects on his best races of the past 12 seasons he drove.

In conversation with Speedcafe.com the Red Bull reserve reflects on the past 12 years in Formula 1 and names his three best races; races he will never forget. The first race he mentioned was Germany 2014, in which he battled against two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. The second race the Australian mentioned was Japan 2012. At Suzuka, the then Toro Rosso driver went up against seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

Ricciardo saw Schumacher as God

Ricciardo: "I defended Schumacher in the last part of the race, and I won the last point in 10th. That was just more like… yes, I was still intimidated by him at that time; obviously I was like, he’s God." Ricciardo never expected to be able to keep Schumacher behind him for the rest of the race. The Australian can remember surprising himself.

Ricciardo: "From that, I grew a lot of confidence. That was a very important race for me which is not talked about because I finished 10th, but personally, for me, it was really big. It was followed up by him congratulating me [at] the following race on the drivers’ parade, I remember he came up and said ‘good job last week defending'." It meant a lot to the Toro Rosso driver who could draw even more confidence from the Ferrari legend's gesture.