Daniel Ricciardo recently came across the car that made him what he is today. As the Australian met the 2014 Red Bull challenger, his delighted inner child came out with jubilance.
After beginning his career for HRT in 2011, Ricciardo jumped to Scuderia Toro Rosso a year later. And from there on, having spent two years on the junior team, the Honey Badger finally got the breakthrough as he replaced his fellow compatriot Mark Webber in Red Bull.
Coming at Red Bull in 2014 and partnering with the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, the 33-year-old had a flying start. As he arrived at the team, he met with the Red Bull RB10, which he believes was a career-changing move for him.
Ricciardo met the car that changed his career
As per a recent post on Reddit, the eight-time Grand Prix winner was seen reminiscing about his good old days in the Austrian team. Walking by, he comes across the car that made him what he is today.
Seeing the car and referring to it, he said, “I loved this car.” Following this, he added, “First one, this car changed my career.” As the man from Land Down Under was basking in good old memories, he went on describing his 2014 Canadian GP win.
“I remember everything. I remember the briefing after qualifying. Nothing really was going well for me on that Saturday, and then the next day was pretty awesome,” said Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo then stated how his belief made him do the unthinkable. He shared that he belonged up front and revealed that his podium was something he had dreamt of before.
Ricciardo and his brilliance with RB-10
However, that Canadian GP in 2014 wasn’t the only win he picked up with the RB10. Apart from that, he also won the Hungarian and Belgian Grand Prix. Notably, it was just his first year in the Milton-Keynes-based team. Despite being a rookie, he could outclass his teammate Vettel.
Ricciardo finished the season in P3 behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. He beat his teammate by 71 points. With three wins and eight podiums in his bag, that was his best-ever statistics in a Formula 1 season.
Admittedly, in a year that was completely dominated by Mercedes, raking in three wins meant a lot for the Honey Badger and the team. Interestingly, Ricciardo’s three wins were all the defending champions could manage that season.