Ricciardo Gets the Nod
9 September 2013
At the end of June, Mark Webber announced he was leaving F1, setting off weeks of speculation around who would replace him. When the dust settled, it seemed that Red Bull’s choice had boiled down to a choice between Kimi Raikkonen — a former world champion and one of the fastest drivers on the grid — or Daniel Ricciardo, a driver from Red Bull’s Young Driver programme.
A few days ago, Red Bull announced that Daniel Ricciardo would replace him.
Whilst I would have loved to see Kimi in the second Red Bull, politics & PR dictated that it was always going to be Ricciardo. What’s the point of having a young driver programme if, at the first opportunity to allow one of the participants to progress, you hand the seat to someone else entirely? I have nothing against Ricciardo, he always comes across as one of the most genuine blokes in the paddock. But Kimi and Vettel in the same team would have been brilliant.
Now that the Red Bull seat is taken, the rumours are that Kimi is going back to Ferrari. An Alonso/Raikkonen partnership in 2014 promises fireworks. Remember, Alonso doesn’t like it when his team-mate is faster than him…