What Mark Webber said about Daniel Ricciardo just days before his F1 debut in 2011

Follow us on Google Discover

Daniel Ricciardo may be a product of the Red Bull driver academy, but he didn’t start his career at Toro Rosso. Instead, he arrived at backmarkers HRT midway through the 2011 season.

Ricciardo had joined the Red Bull programme in 2007 after finishing third in Formula BMW Asia. He would go on to win the British Formula 3 Championship a couple of years later, marking himself out as a future star.

While Red Bull didn’t have a seat available at their junior squad in 2011, they were able to strike a deal with HRT to test Ricciardo at the highest level. He replaced Narain Karthikeyan from the British Grand Prix onwards.

HRT only lasted three years in F1 as they persistently struggled for funds in the pre-budget cap era. They never finished a Grand Prix higher than 14th.

In 2011, they were one of three teams who failed to score a point alongside Virgin and Lotus. By virtue of superior results, they avoided finishing bottom.

Ricciardo wasn’t able to place any higher than 18th in his stint with the Madrid outfit. But he still did enough to earn a Toro Rosso drive alongside Jean-Eric Vergne for 2012.

Mark Webber on the ‘unusual’ circumstances of Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 debut

Ricciardo joined fellow Australian Mark Webber on the grid at Silverstone 13 years ago. Speaking to GP Update a few days before the race, Webber offered his thoughts on the move.

The Red Bull driver called it a ‘perfect’ opportunity despite the ‘unusual’ timing and suggested Ricciardo could benefit from starting at the back. He could gain ‘experience’ without the pressure faced by a driver like Lewis Hamilton, who went straight into a title fight with McLaren in 2007.

Webber saw similarities with his own F1 debut, which came with struggling Minardi back in 2002. He would only score two points that year and had to wait until 2005 before he stood on the podium.

Having got the better of Vergne, Ricciardo went on to succeed Webber following his retirement in 2013. Between them, the drivers amassed 17 wins and 74 podiums.

“It’s always a big stage, a big chance in your career when you have your first Grand Prix coming up,” Webber said. “So for him, it’s a little bit unusual in the middle of the year, but why not? It’s perfect for him to get the experience and it’ll be good.

“Obviously it’s not a team at the front. Myself and Fernando and many guys didn’t start in that situation, so it was only, I suppose, when Lewis came along [that a driver went straight to the front]. Mika Hakkinen and these guys, they never won a race after 100 Grands Prix.

“In the last few years, the young guys are always coming into the fastest cars immediately, so they have a better chance. For Daniel, I think it’s good for him to get the experience in the smaller teams to start with.”

Michael Schumacher’s message to Daniel Ricciardo back in 2012

Within his first 18 months, Ricciardo impressed Michael Schumacher, at that point the most successful driver in F1 history. The German was racing for Mercedes during his second stint in the sport.

Schumacher approached Ricciardo before the 2012 Korean Grand Prix to commend him on his defensive driving at the previous in Suzuka. It was a moment that gave the youngster a sense of belonging.

After 257 Grands Prix, it looks as if his career is at an end. RB announced on Thursday that Liam Lawson would replace him for the remainder of the year, offering a poignant sense of circularity given the circumstances of his debut.

He left with the respect of his peers, having been one of the best drivers on the grid during his pomp. Hamilton called Ricciardo a ‘legend’, and few would dispute that tag.