It’s no secret that the name Daniel Joseph Ricciardo is on the wish list list for a number of Formula One teams.
Whispers that a deal with Ferrari were enough to force Red Bull’s hand and the speculation that a move could be in the works were quashed when the Austrian marque announced that his contract was water-tight and he’d be staying put if they so desired.
In some ways this gives Ricciardo a tactical advantage on the track, in that he isn’t beholden to team orders as the consequences would be negligible; if he disobeys them he’ll most likely benefit on the track.
The arrival of Max Verstappen at the team, marked with an unlikely win in Barcelona no less, has been food for thought for Ricciardo, and so far it’s been less than appetising.
Compounding his disappointment in Spain was the debacle in Monaco that should have delivered him a dominant victory at Formula One’s most prestigious event. Making matters worse, Verstappen looked completely out of sorts, crashing three times during the Monaco weekend in a surprisingly amateur performance.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff couldn’t resist kicking Max while he was down.
“Max Verstappen acts more like a teenager,” said Wolff. “In the car, he’s extremely good, but when you interact with him, he’s a kid.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner came to Verstappen’s defence and pointed out just how mature Verstappen was when defending against the charging Nico Rosberg late in the race this weekend.
Indeed, it was Rosberg’s misfortune at the start that saw Ricciardo fall behind Vertappen while trying to avoid the German, setting the scene for an interesting encounter when the team asked Verstappen not to hold Ricciardo up, something experienced viewers will recognise as an order to either pull out some serious speed or let him through. Unfortunately for Daniel, a virtual safety car meant that he couldn’t overtake even if he wanted to.
It wasn’t warmly received by Verstappen either, judging by his resolve not to let Ricciardo past.
So why did the team give him the order at all, especially as Max is renowned for ignoring them? As I see it, there are three possible scenarios.
Firstly, there could have been a discussion within the Red Bull camp about team order where it as decided that, when a driver has an obvious speed advantage or is on a contra strategy, the drivers will assist each other, and this time Max was delaying the move for as long as possible.
Option two, there could have been a discussion where it was explained to Verstappen that Ricciardo will be given preferential treatment as a number one driver, however unbeknownst to management Verstappen had no intention of following their orders.
Lastly, and frankly most likely, there has been conversation at Red Bull about team orders and by asking him to let Ricciardo through they were simply hoping for the best.
Either way, Verstappen has the potential to rattle some cages at the team, and with the potential of leaving for greener pastures seemingly off the table, Ricciardo needs to maintain composure and put the devastation of the last month behind him.
He’s already shown that he’s capable of equalling and even besting Verstappen, at least during this formative phase of the teenagers’ career, and the best response to the hype surrounding the new kid on the block will be to apply pressure with some on-track performance.
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