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What F1 teams can learn from Ricciardo

It's too easy for teams to be conservative with driver choices. EDD STRAW explains what rival F1 teams can learn from Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo.

Daniel Ricciardo started the 2014 season as an unknown quantity. Heading into the August break, he has established himself as a driver who looks capable of winning a world championship.

The searing speed he showed during his two years with Toro Rosso remains. But to that, Ricciardo has added outstanding racecraft, remarkable consistency and the mental fortitude needed to deliver at the highest level week-in, week-out.

Don't underestimate how rare it is for a driver to perform in this manner. While he's only 11 races into his frontline Formula 1 career, Ricciardo has arguably been the star of the season so far.

He has outperformed Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Contrary to the caricature, this is not a Vettel 'found out' by not having the best car, but a still-great driver battling to re-adapt to the different demands of the post-exhaust blowing era of cars.

Even in those circumstances, Vettel has still been driving pretty well, if well below his normal standards. It's just that Ricciardo is doing better.

Half a season in a top car and a couple of victories does not automatically mean a driver has earned his place among the elite, but Ricciardo has been so convincing that it's difficult to imagine he won't consolidate his status over the seasons to come. At 25, he looks like he will be a real force to be reckoned with for the next decade.

It is to Red Bull's tremendous credit that Ricciardo is in this position at all. After all, it could very easily have taken a safe option and bought into the spurious idea that only drivers who have been there and done that at the front should be given the chance to be there and do that at the sharp end. But take that approach and how does anyone earn a chance?

Compare the team's approach to that of Ferrari. While Red Bull took something of a gamble with Ricciardo, albeit one that was justified, Ferrari showed a complete lack of imagination by bringing Kimi Raikkonen back.

The circumstances were a little different, as when the decision to bring the Finn in was made relations with star driver Fernando Alonso were shaky, but that decision is still symptomatic of the conservatism of some top teams.

Yes, Raikkonen has a tremendous record, has produced some of the most remarkable grand prix drives seen in the 21st century and at Lotus he performed well after his comeback. But there were legitimate question marks over whether he was what Ferrari really needed. While it was probably too early to promote the very promising Jules Bianchi, the second choice for the seat, Nico Hulkenberg, would surely have scored more heavily than Raikkonen has in that car.

Fashions come and go in F1, and the success of Ricciardo, along with the emergence of Valtteri Bottas, tends to lead those who argue that youth should be given a chance to be in the ascendency.

I don't buy into that attitude. It is often espoused by those who think driver development and talent spotting is simply about trying drivers with good records and seeing which one works. This is not the case.

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