Alonso: What Ricciardo does in F1 is “incredible”
After their battle at the end of the German Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso praised Daniel Ricciardo. Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, was not stingy with compliments either.
The last 10 laps of the German Grand Prix were marked by an intense battle between Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso for 5th place. The Spaniard, on super-soft tires, was faster than the Australian, on soft tires, who nevertheless managed to keep him behind until the 62nd lap, before the Red Bull driver also became threatening right up to the final meters.
The double world champion of 2005 and 2006 is full of praise for his young colleague: « Daniel has been a surprise since Australia: I think what he is doing is incredible. » To support his statement, he provides the statistical record from the start of the 2014 season: « He leads 7-3 over the first ten races with Sebastian, which none of us probably expected, so he is doing a very good job. »
This season is Daniel Ricciardo’s first driving for a top team: furthermore, he is up against the reigning four-time world champion. The Australian has secured four podiums, including a victory at the Canadian Grand Prix, and is in third place in the drivers’ championship, with 106 points. Sebastian Vettel has been on the podium twice and is 24 points behind the driver with number 3.
Alonso talks about their battle at the end of the German Grand Prix: « He drives fantastically, and in Germany, he fought very intelligently, always taking my slipstream after I passed him, braking very late, attacking very late, and never missing the corner. He was very, very clever, he respected the rules. It was a great battle. »
The director of the Red Bull team, Christian Horner, also commented enthusiastically on the battle between the two drivers: “It was great driving between Fernando and Daniel.” He praises his driver’s “fighting spirit,” daring to compare him to the Lion, Nigel Mansell: “The great thing from our perspective was that Daniel didn’t give up and you could see his competitive spirit. The maneuvers were ‘Nigel Mansell-esque’ in many ways.”
« I truly believe that we witnessed F1 at its finest, » he concluded, for our British colleagues at Autosport.
