Before you get excited, no, we’re not talking about Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton – although the invariably contentious Monaco Grand Prix should be another exciting chapter to Mercedes’ When Friends Turn Sour yearbook.
Indeed, the fight will likely be somewhere just behind the Silver Arrows and somewhere in the vicinity of Ferrari, depending on whether or not Renault debuts its upgraded power unit one race ahead of schedule.
Daniel Ricciardo versus Max Verstappen is where the action is.
We know it all by now, Verstappen lucks into the lead and then perfectly judges his race victory against a so-close-yet-so-far Kimi Räikkönen in Spain. Youngest ever race winner etcetera. It’s a nice story – and indeed, as Mark Webber tweeted after the race, Red Bull Racing loves its records.
So:
MV incredible T3 move around SV?.
Grass still has no grip?.
Back markers lap faster than leaders after pitstop!
Red Bull loves records.— Mark Webber (@AussieGrit) May 15, 2016
But the story behind the victory is fascinating. From Verstappen’s first turn of the RB12’s wheel to his baffling interview with Plácido Domingo (who, yes, I had to Google), every action was setting the scene for an endurance battle with his Australian teammate.
No-one would have said much had he jumped in the car he’d never before driven and been marginally slower than Ricciardo, who had had the benefit of a pre-season and four races to learn the intricacies of his car. But the style with which Verstappen staked his claim for weekend honours on Saturday turned heads – including Ricciardo’s.
Were it not for a, to quote a phrase, centimetre-perfect lap by the number three car, the junior driver could well have had his senior partner beaten on their very first weekend sharing a garage.
The margin might’ve been a very healthy four-tenths, but listen to Daniel Ricciardo’s team radio after having his supremacy confirmed and tell me that isn’t the sound of a man relieved.
However, as much as the margin was testament to Ricciardo’s much-lauded ability to perform under pressure, some amount of it must equally owe itself to Verstappen’s unfamiliarity in the car.
Speaking to Dutch commentator Olav Mol before the race, he said there could have yet been more to come from Verstappen had he been familiar with the car’s set-up.
“I spoke to Max [after qualifying] and he said, ‘That is what I don’t know about this car yet. At Toro Rosso, if I give half a millimetre of extra front wing, the car would change massively’,” Mol recounted.
“Daniel Ricciardo, prior to his last run yesterday, put nearly two millimetres of extra front wing in, and Max said, ‘I didn’t know that car could handle that’. But now he knows.”
Sure, Mol was excited to see his compatriot in a competitive position – especially if his colourful commentary is anything to go by – but the point stands.
But an (intra-team) win is a win and come race day that third on the grid became a very valuable first on the track after the two Mercedes cars scuttled each other on the first lap.
The win, converted from qualifying, was in Ricciardo’s hands until the Red Bull Racing pit wall took the baffling decision to put its lead driver on a three-stop strategy it knew would be difficult to pull off.
Not only is passing difficult in Barcelona, but to pass cars that the team admitted it thought were faster than its own is almost impossible – and Christian Horner said the three-stop was prompted because it seemed Ferrari had a speed advantage.
Whatever the reason – Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel somehow reached the same conclusion – Verstappen found himself in a position to seize victory, which he duly did, much to Ricciardo’s disappointment.
He had a right to be disappointed given the position he put himself in before poor strategy intervened – though he continued to play the team game ably, appearing the post-race photo and so on – and doubly so because he missed the opportunity to make the definitive statement that Red Bull Racing is his team.
The fact of the matter is that, even if there were mitigating factors, the only thing anyone will remember from Spain is that Verstappen won on debut with his new team – and you’re only as good as your last result.
And so will be the story for the next 16 races – Verstappen ensuring his star isn’t allowed to fade and Ricciardo protecting himself from Mark Webber syndrome of being in the right car at the wrong time – made all the more juicy by the team’s accelerating return to the top step of the podium.
There is no better battleground to fight for supremacy than the glittering streets of Monte Carlo, where Ricciardo has tasted success in the junior formulae and where Verstappen has a point to prove after last year’s high-speed accident.
We’re watching the first stages of what could be one of the most fascinating battles of the season.
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