Ricciardo on early F1 years: "They would take advantage of me being the nice guy"

While Renault star Daniel Ricciardo is widely regarded as one of F1's finest overtakers and overall drivers, the Aussie did not have this reputation when he first came into the sport at HRT in 2011.

Ricciardo made his F1 debut in the middle of the 2011 season at the British Grand Prix for HRT before moving to Toro Rosso in 2012, where he would drive for two seasons. When Mark Webber announced his retirement, his fellow countryman took his spot at Red Bull Racing for the 2014 season, lining up next to reigning champion Sebastian Vettel.

Ricciardo had an incredible 2014, beating Vettel as he finished third in the championship with three wins. Despite his charismatic personality and his trademark smile, the now 30-year-old developed into a killer that year, with brave overtakes and lunges becoming his bread and butter.

Speaking to the Formula 1's official website, Ricciardo explained how he uses his quirky personality off the track to catch drivers off guard on the track. 

"That's been a positive," the 30-year-old said about surprising drivers with his ruthlessness on-track. 

"At first, I felt other competitors would take advantage of me being the nice guy. Especially when I got into F1, it was like 'he's too nice, we're going to bully him on the track' and I think they did for the first six months.

"I felt like that was a reputation that was going to stay with me unless I quickly adapted.

"It was really 2014 when I felt everyone was saying 'he's got a fast car now but he's still a soft touch'. And I could play to that and surprise them on track. I think that's where these dummy overtakes, these lunges, I feel like caught everyone by surprise and that was very powerful for me."