‘Hamilton favourite to win championship’
Daniel Ricciardo crashed out in qualifying, started 10th in the race and slipped to 17th in the early stages before producing probably the most sensational drive of his career to triumph in the chaotic Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku on Sunday.
The Red Bull driver’s victory, fifth of the Australian’s career and first of the season, came after safety car periods, a red flag (halting the race), several dangerous crashes and with no championship contenders Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel on the podium.
The Australian driver with Italian roots is seen as someone who can challenge for the championship in the future, having won three races and outscored then Red Bull teammate and reigning four-time world champion Vettel in 2014 to finish third overall.
In a chat with HT, the 27-year-old Ricciardo discussed the Baku thriller, his favourite for the 2017 F1 world championship, and compared the four-time world champion Vettel with current teammate, teenager Max Verstappen.
Excerpts: have managed to get the win. After all the chaos and the red flag, I felt a podium was within reach, but once Lewis had to pit and Seb had the penalty, I knew the win was possible. It has been more promising. When you finish on the podium, it is nice. So, now I have three on the bounce, it feels good. We are still realistic about what we want to achieve. The podiums are great but we still have ground to make. We are enjoying the podiums when we get them but we are also going back to the drawing board afterwards, trying to figure out ways to improve. Hamilton is the favourite. It’s either going to be Vettel or Hamilton and better than saying someone else. Seb’s obviously talented enough and he has proven he can win a world title, but I kind of lean towards the development of Mercedes probably as the year goes on and probably they have a little bit more longevity in their car. Both are extremely talented and strong. Both are determined and very hard racers, kind of fight for every piece of track, which is great. Not everyone is willing to do that but they are. With Seb his experience was kind of the thing I learnt from, the way he interacted with the team and things like this. For Max’s youth (the Dutch driver is 19), it’s just kind of a bit like his speed and getin-the-car kind of driving and not giving a s**t in a way. Both are massively talented. But Max is so much younger and definitely has room to grow, but he’s very good. Third! Hopefully we can join the battle but for now we are clear third.