Daniel Ricciardo Dominates F1 Overtaking Chart

... And Talks About The Future


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It's official - Daniel Ricciardo is the king of passing, doing it more than any other Formula One driver in 2017.

Stats released by Pirelli reveal the Aussie made 43 passing moves over the 20 races.

Ricciardo's only victory came from a 10th place start at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June which also happened to boast the most overtaking moves of any of the races with 42.

Russia proved to be a snooze fest though producing just one pass for the entire race.

Pirelli's numbers also revealed the average pole position time was 2.5 seconds quicker than 2016 while fastest laps in races were 3 seconds faster.

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Our boy overtakes 3 cars in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Meantime Daniel's reflected on a difficult end to the season at redbull.com and offered some thoughts on what's in store for 2018 and beyond.

The 28 year old says it wasn't the way he would've liked to finish the year.

"Three DNFs in the last four races and only a sixth in Brazil to show for it – you know things are bad when Brazil is the highlight of the last few races, because I'd never had a strong run there in the past."

But the season wasn't devoid of highlights for the tape.

"I won a race, I had runs of five and three podiums in a row, held off Lewis (Hamilton) to get third in Austria … there was some good stuff there."

"There was too much inconsistency for me to call it an amazing season or a bad one."

So what does the off-season hold for the Aussie?

Lots of downtime back home.

"The plan is to get back to Western Australia, not get on a plane except for when I go to Brendon Hartley's wedding in January, and get away for a bit."

"Some mates of mine have rented a place away from the city and hopefully where there's some bad mobile reception!"

"That's what I'm hanging out for. I feel I need to relax and go back recharged more than spending a month or so trying to do too much when I'm back in Perth, because next year is a big one for me."

Big indeed, with no word yet on where he'll be driving after 2018 when his Red Bull contract expires.

But don't expect a quick answer on that.

"It's a big decision for me, so if I need to take time to make it, I will," he said.

"I'm planning on being in the sport for a long while yet, but in saying that, if I was to sign, say, a three-year deal, that's a big chunk of the next part of my career."

Ricciardo insists it's not all about the cashola.

"I know what I want, and the performance side is more important than ticking the money box, if you like."

"Having the chance to be able to fight for something really meaningful – races, championships – that's the absolute priority. It's not even close."

Seeing as he'll be doing most of the negotiating himself, the Aussie is feeling pretty relaxed about the situation.

"It'll be nice to stand on my own two feet and make some grown-up decisions. Maybe even act like an adult! It's all part of the evolution, I'm told …"

Sean Maynard

10 December 2018

Article by:

Sean Maynard




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