12: Daniel Ricciardo – What Was Special About Him And What Went Wrong?
This week we delve into the curious case of Daniel Ricciardo. He once rode a horse into the paddock at Austin, but will not be lining up there in at this year’s US Grand Prix - or any other Grands Prix - after being dropped by Red Bull. Daniel was one of F1’s biggest fan favourites and an 8-time Grand Prix winner. But he’s not been the same driver for a few years now. As always with F1, a sport all about technology and hardware, at the heart of this is a very human story. On this podcast we drill down into that story - what made Ricciardo special? And what went wrong? We hear from a Chief Engineer whose job was to develop Ricciardo for his big-time 2014 move to Red Bull Racing and from the Australian F1 TV host, who’s known Daniel since his early days. With James in the studio are two top F1 journalists who covered Ricciardo’s entire career, Autosport’s F1 Editor Jon Noble and Chief motorsport writer Ben Hunt. Send your comments or questions to @jamesallenonf1 on X/Twitter or jamesallenonf1@autosport.com. Guests: Phil Charles, former Chief Race Engineer, Toro Rosso F1 team (now RB) Greg Rust, former Network 10 F1 Presenter A Motorsport Studios production for Autosport