2011 end of term report – Daniel Ricciardo

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