Daniel Ricciardo believes the decisions he took and the way he drove during his first year with Red Bull “set the tone” for his five-year stint with the team.
This weekend, the Australian prepares for his final race as part of the driver stable at the Austrian drinks giant and looked back on his time in a final farewell diary entry.
Known as a great qualifier at Toro Rosso, doubts did remain over how Ricciardo would cope alongside Sebastian Vettel but he believes the first impression he made in 2014 was the most telling.
“I was on inters in the rain [in qualifying in Australia], first race with the new team, home race – I was the brave kid who made the ballsy call,” he was quoted by Autosport.
“I look back at that now and think that it was a really important race in my time at Red Bull.
“I went two feet in that day, was decisive, and that set the tone for the driver I was to become, especially in that first year up against Seb.
“That year, it just clicked. I always knew I had that in me, but I was able to put it all together and that confidence from that year has carried on since.”
Ricciardo would go on to score three wins that year in Canada, Hungary and Belgium with the second of that trio among the first indications of the trait that the 29-year-old is now most known for, overtaking.
“The wins were big and I had a massive battle with Fernando [Alonso] in Germany where we raced really hard but fair, and he had some praise for me afterwards which was big at the time,” he recalled.
“I feel ’14 didn’t just shape me and my approach from then on, it changed the level of overtaking from other guys in the sport as well.
“Not many people were doing that, coming from a long way back and trying big passing moves, maybe they learned from me and the way I was racing, so perhaps I set a new level and showed people what was possible, and the drivers that were willing to try it were trying it.
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“I realise that sounds a bit cocky, but I really do believe that.
“I’m not saying all of them can do it, but at least more of them are trying!”
Having only scored four more wins in the following four years with Red Bull, it’s perhaps no surprise that Ricciardo also made this claim…
“That’s the year I look back at being the most fun for me and the most important for my career since,” he stated.
