This weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix race marks five years since Sebastian Vettel’s index finger first raised to the sky while racing for Red Bull.
Although Red Bull Racing didn’t take their first championship until 2010, that victory was when Red Bull’s reign over Formula 1 truly began.
A lot has happened in half a decade for Vettel and Red Bull, the pair combining for four world championships, 38 grand prix victories and 44 pole positions. Vettel’s dominance of the sport in recent times is unquestionable, but it appears there is a new prince in the Red Bull garage; one following in the footsteps of the man who sits on the championship throne.
Daniel Ricciardo has been under the Red Bull wing since 2008, back in the Formula Renault 2.0 days. He’s progressed through the ranks of the team in the British Formula 3 and Formula Renault 3.5 series.
Always showing potential and promise, the Australian was just two points off the Renault 3.5 championship in 2010. He was once again competing for the 2011 title before he was moved by Red Bull management to the HRT team in Formula 1, so he could gain top class experience.
Impressing in his short time at HRT, Ricciardo found himself with a full-time drive with Toro Rosso for the following two years, before taking Mark Webber’s No. 2 seat at Red Bull in 2014.
Ricciardo’s early racing career has in many ways mirrored that of four-time world champion Vettel. Both drivers were spotted by the Red Bull young development team early in their careers and were guided into modern day drivers, being placed in strong teams that can evolve the individual into a flawlessly fast Renault driver.
Both men have the fierce competitiveness that is needed to push the car to its absolute limit and the arrogance to not let anyone stop them on the quest to be the world’s best driver, which is just as Christian Horner wants his main men to be.
On the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo’s appeal against excessive fuel usage in the Melbourne Grand Prix and the breaching of calculating their own fuel usage without expressed permission by the FIA was rejected. Ricciardo’s disqualification in the race was confirmed and his second placing stripped.
The lost appeal and their unfortunate pits problem in Malaysia have been a big blow for Ricciardo and Red Bull in their fight to retain their dominance, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for the team. Vettel’s Red Bull career started much the same way in 2009.
Qualifying strong in Melbourne and running in second place for most of the race, the German was involved in an accident whilst in a fight with Kubica with three laps to go. The team made the decision to try and finish the race with a severely damaged vehicle while under the yellow flag, but Vettel was forced to pull over, receiving a ten-place grid penalty for the next race in Malaysia.
After qualifying third but starting the race from 13th, Vettel then crashed out of the Malaysian Grand Prix and hadn’t earned any championship points after the first two rounds of racing. Sound familiar?
The addition of the Bahrain Grand Prix to the calendar and some brave and skillful driving has helped young Ricciardo’s position before Shanghai. After starting from thirteenth on the grid, he recorded 12 vital championship points by fighting his way through the field to fourth place.
If we follow the script in this remake of the rise of Red Bull, we can expect a strong performance from the fast-paced Aussie in Shanghai as he continues to outclass teammate Sebastian Vettel, while following in the crowned champion’s footsteps from five years ago.
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