|
 The only driver to have beaten Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to
the top of the podium this campaign, Ricciardo won a dramatic
Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday to seal his second victory of the
season, underlining his class with a high-quality drive and further
shading Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo's success has raised Australian hopes of a first F1
title-holder since Jones's 1980 triumph and the former Williams
driver said the expectation was justified.
"He's a contender, there's no doubt about it," the 67-year-old told
Reuters in a phone interview.
"He's not a contender this year obviously because Mercedes have got
the jump on everyone. Get him a good car next year. If you put that
(Mercedes engine) in that bloody Red Bull, he would be a contender.
"Or get him a Mercedes, because he's proven he can qualify
consistently in the top four. He can run up there with the best of
them. He doesn't pile up the road or have any accidents."
 After a two-year apprenticeship with feeder team Toro Rosso,
Ricciardo has proved a revelation this season, mounting the podium
five times, including a maiden win in Canada last month.
Sunday's win at Hungaroring put him third in the standings behind
the Mercedes pair, 71 points adrift of Rosberg and 60 below Hamilton
with eight races remaining.
While Ricciardo has benefited from safety car interventions in both
victories, his calm in a frenetic finish in Hungary, in which the
top four drivers were separated by a little more than six seconds,
left few in doubt he belongs in the A-grade.
Ricciardo has also had to vie for top honors with a Renault engine,
which remains well off the pace of the Mercedes power unit,
according to team principal Christian Horner.
WEBBER'S HEIR
"I think Daniel's drive was exemplary," Jones said. "He did a really
super job in looking after his tires, displayed a lot of maturity
and I think he's well and truly cemented himself in the team now.
"Daniel took a fantastic overtaking maneuver on (Fernando Alonso) to
get the job done," Jones added, referring to the two-time world
championship winning Ferrari driver.
"There was some speculation that in Canada that he got it handed to
him to a certain degree but this one he well and truly earned. He
just drove really well."
Ricciardo took his Red Bull seat from hard-bitten compatriot Mark
Webber, who came close to breaking Australia's championship drought
in 2010, only to blow his chance late in the season with a crash in
South Korea.
[to top of second column] |
In contrast to the straight-talking Webber, who sometimes wore a
face of thunder at post-race media conferences, Ricciardo is rarely
seen without a big toothy grin and has tried in vain to convince
fans a cold-blooded competitor lurks within.
"Don't be fooled by the sunshine exterior," Ricciardo wrote last
year on his blog, explaining why he has an image of a honey badger,
one of the animal kingdom's most ferocious fighters, on the back of
his helmet.
"Press the right buttons and I can be a very dark individual. Very
angry. No, honestly I can be. Stop laughing."
Already boasting the toughness to step out of quadruple world
champion Vettel's shadow at Red Bull, Ricciardo also had the
temperament to deal with the pressure of being his country's motor
sport standard-bearer in the post-Webber era, said Jones.
"I call him a baby-faced assassin. He hasn't got that honey badger
on the back of his helmet for nothing," he added. "He's very
affable, he's a terrific kid and he's always smiling but he grows
horns when it counts, when he's got his bum in the car."
Though lavishing praise on Ricciardo, Jones said he could see little
of himself in the young driver.
"No, he's too nice. I know I couldn't race Formula One in this day
and age," he said.
"There's too much corporate bloody pressure on you and you've got to
be nice with everybody, you've got to watch your Ps and Qs. You've
got to be half a bloody politician."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
