Vettel ‘won’t dance with Ricciardo’ – but would have him as team mate again

2016 Australian Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel says he would be happy to have Daniel Ricciardo as his team mate again despite being beaten by him when the pair were at Red Bull together two years ago.

Ricciardo has been linked with a potential move to Ferrari next season after world champion Alan Jones said this week the team should hire him to replace Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel told Ricciardo “I will not dance with you”
Asked in the official press conference ahead of this weekend’s race if he would welcome Ricciardo as a team mate Vettel said “I don’t mind, we never had issues”.

“I think obviously the year we had together was very good for him, not so good for me, but I think that’s one thing that happens on the track but outside the track, which I think is more important when you talk about your team mate. Whether you get along or not we never had, at least I don’t remember… it’s a bit weird when it gets strange.”

During the press conference Vettel joked with Ricciardo he “will not dance with you in the pit lane”, as Ricciardo did with current team mate Daniil Kvyat during the rain delay at last year’s United States Grand Prix.

Ricciardo would not be drawn on whether he might switch teams for 2017. “To give you a boring answer but an honest answer is that I’m just completely focused on this year now and with Red Bull,” he said. “That’s where it stands.”

“I’m not exactly out of contract either so don’t get too excited.”

2016 Australian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    44 comments on “Vettel ‘won’t dance with Ricciardo’ – but would have him as team mate again”

    1. “two years ago” !?

      How time flies !! Seems like a week ago at most.

    2. Right… 2014, long time no see?

      1. @jureo what does your comment even mean? Vettel actually mentions 2014.

        1. Means its so far ago that season. And he placed that underperforming year far behind him.

          Meanwhile Riciardo underperformed last year.

          Vettel also had incentive to underperform in 2014, enabling him to get out of contract.

          Probably in his mind he thinks he can beat anyone anytime…

          1. @jureo thanks for the clarification, I didn’t get all of that out of your original comment :)

            I, too, think that we didn’t see Vettel at his best – for whatever reason that may have been. He was beaten fairly and squarely and Ricciardo performed excellently, but the outcome might have been different had they been paired up in other years.

            You’re correct in that Vettel would think he can beat anyone anytime, but that is probably true for most top drivers.

            The sole thing I don’t agree with is Ricciardo underperforming last year. He drove well last year, and him losing out to Kvyat was more due to other factors as he generally drove better than Kvyat.

            1. Yeah, he drove better, but got worse results… Go figure.

              Kinda like Senna always drove better, but didnt always get better results.

              Vettel is exceptional in getting results.

          2. “Probably in his mind he thinks he can beat anyone anytime…”
            Don’t all F1 drivers think that? I would imagine the day you stop thinking that is the day you hang it up.

    3. Ricciardo is a good driver but if we’re honest he was flattered by three wins that involved massive amounts of luck but wins nonetheless, and by Vettel being in a slump and having terrible reliability. Yes, Ricciado has beaten Vettel but hardly in the same way Vettel has beaten Kimi, or Hamilton Rosberg. Kvyat has also ‘beaten’ Ricciardo last season,…

      What I’m saying is we all know Vettel is still the better driver of the two, that being said if he does join Ferrari they’d have the strongest line-up if you ask me. I don’t see it happening as it just goes against their philosophy.

      1. christopheraser
        17th March 2016, 6:35

        Daniel’s three victories in 2014 definitely involved luck, but he was the only driver that even looked close to taking a win from Mercedes that year and I can’t think of a non-Mercedes victory since the start of 2014 that didn’t involve luck. It was more than just luck” though, it was through great skill and talent on Ricciardo’s behalf.

        It’s obvious that Vettel has a tonne of talent and virtues other than just being a good driver that aid him in being a multiple champion. However I don’t think “we all know” Vettel is a better driver than Ricciardio. If you are talking about pure ability to drive a car around a track the fastest I think Ricciardo has it over Vettel, but that’s just my opinion. I would presume to force it on others as if it were fact.

        If it had been Ricciardo entering the Red Bull team in 2009 in a similar position to to Vettel I am sure he would have capitalised on the opportunity in a very similar way. If you want luck it’s Vettel graduating to the Red Bull A team just everything had fallen into place for them and they started a period of technical dominance. I am not saying he didn’t deserve it, but there is at least half a dozen other guys out there that could have replicated his feat had they been walking in his shoes and that probably deserved it at least as much.

        1. Well, Singapore didn’t involve luck, at least no more than any other victory since silverstone 1950.
          Also Hungary (15) wasn’t too Lucky in my book. Or Malaysia.
          To be fair, Hungary 14 was not too Lucky as well. Awesome Pass on Hamilton.
          Anywho i Think Vettels wins were quite a Bit Less Lucky all Things considered.

          1. @mrboerns

            To be fair, Hungary 14 was not too Lucky as well. Awesome Pass on Hamilton.

            Hungary 2014 was enormously lucky. Ricciardo was running around in 6th place, 22 seconds behind Rosberg after 8 laps. Then the timing of the safety car and pit stops put him in the lead.

            1. He still got past his rivals on track with only a tyre advantage. I’d say thats not as lucky as them basically crashing out in front of you (Belgium) or ´cruising arouhnd at a 150 hp disadvantage (Canada).
              And if all it wouldtake to beat the mercs was a tyre advantage the last to seasons wouldn’t have been quite as dull.

            2. @mrboerns Even a Manor could pass a Mercedes if his tryes were that much fresher. The ‘luck’ part is the SC brought out by Ericsson when the top 4 (including Vettel) just past the start/finish whereas Ricciardo could immediately pit and gain a massive amount of time. Had our Swedish friend not crashed it would have been very unlikely to see Ricciardo finish higher than fifth.

        2. half a dozen other guys out there that could have replicated his feat had they been walking in his shoes and that probably deserved it at least as much.

          Hamilton or Alonso surely, but half a dozen…? Either you rate half the field very high or Vettel quite low.

        3. You make your own luck in the world. Luck typically involves putting yourself in the right position at the right time.

          There were 15 other drivers on the grid that could have won with luck including Vettel, but Dan did it not once, but 3 times. That isn’t luck. It is putting yourself in the right place to take advantage when luck presents itself. That isn’t luck at all. It is determination to compete despite the expected result and delivering when it presents itself.

          1. “You make your own luck in the world. Luck typically involves putting yourself in the right position at the right time.”

            Yes. Dan was in the right place at the right time.

            “It is putting yourself in the right place to take advantage when luck presents itself. That isn’t luck at all. It is determination to compete despite the expected result and delivering when it presents itself.”

            That’s exactly what Vettel has done all his F1 racing life. Practice driver, step in for Kubica and zap – wherever he has put his pedal down, that team seems to start finding chequered flags.

            It’s tough on Alonso, but it was his decision to move. He got it wrong. Eddie Jordan said SV was mad to move to Ferrari, but he got it wrong too. Seb’s decision and he got it right, again.

            Webber said “You make your own luck”.

        4. vettels wins in 2014 involved luck, that is what is needed though with a car 1 second faster then you, no one was expected to win other then Mercedes, so anyone else winning is luck. what matters more then the wins is that he got more out of his car package then other drivers in the season, he had a fantastic season, beating a 4 times world champ and being the only driver to win when Mercedes did not. if Ricciardo was in a Mercedes he would have done better then either Mercedes driver going by his form in 2014. also a race like Hungary with overtaking needing to be done, I wouldn’t call it luck,,,, you might as well call every Mercedes wins in 2014/15 lucky, because they were lucky that they had the fastest car by a mile – now that is the luck of 1 in a million to have an f1 car that can deliver you wins with hardly trying. Ricciardo at least was the best driver of the season, so his wins should not be considered lucky, only the circumstances lucky, because if it was a spec series, he would have won far more, and Hamilton and vettel far less.

          1. christopheraser
            18th March 2016, 2:31

            Vettel didn’t win any races in 2014…..

      2. Need a bit of luck when the front running team can pull out almost 2s/per lap and you have a lemon of an engine in the back of your car but Ricciardo’s wins were anything but:

        2014
        – Canada, put the in lap to pass Vettel in the pits and then passed the FI to even have a chance at Rosberg. Something Vettel couldn’t do all race
        – Sure Hamilton/Rosberg clashed but Ricciardo was both quicker than Vettel the whole race while looking after his tires for longer. Rosberg slowly ate into his lead in the final stint but Ricciardo was just pacing to get home in the lead as evidenced by taking half a second off his final lap
        – Hungary controlled the race well, knew he was in for a win half way through the race and built his win on an excellent middle stint and ensuring he had the right tire to attack in the final stint. Great moves on both Hamilton/Alonso to win it.

        2015
        – Hungary could have been another win, almost like 2014 but if Rosberg hadn’t clashed with him, it possibly could have been Ricciardo again on the top step rather than Vettel
        – Singapore, both Vettel and Ricciardo were in a class of their own out front. Enough said.
        – Where was Kvyat when the car was there with an opportunity to win??

        If he only won once, then I’d call it luck, multiple shows you it is much more than luck.

        1. Ricciardo wasn’t on for the win in Hungary last year. How many laps did it take him on the restart, with the option tire and Rosberg on the Primes, do have a sniff of a chance to pass Rosberg? 14 or 15. And it was a clunky effort where he went way too deep and off the racing line. Coming together was as much his fault as Rosberg’s (hence it was a racing incident). But if they didn’t come together, Rosberg would have kept P2.

          Ricciardo’s passing was a bit more desperate last year than 2014 and it showed. More NASCAR than F1.

          I rate Ricciardo highly. Who’s better between Vettel and Ricciardo? That’s like asking who was better between Lewis and Nico the last 3 races of last year (6 poles in row for Nico and 3 wins on the trot as well).

          If Hamilton is given slack for turning off slightly after winning the WDC, the same could be said for Vettel coming off 4 WDCs and into a car that wasn’t even able to challenge for a podium (without other cars suffering issues) until Monaco. The difference is Vettel didn’t make excuses for getting beat (blaming unfair team orders, or something changed on the car, etc.).

          We’d have to see Vettel and Ricciardo in the same car that was competitive, then we’d know. The big difference in 2014 though was that Ricciardo was better on his tires, especially the rears. One change that affect Ric last year was Pirelli making the rear tires more durable, which took an advantage away that he had.

          As for Kyat, we should remember last year was only his 2nd in F1. It was Ricciardo’s 5th. I think Ric’s time spent in the HRT and STR actually helped him a lot with this new formula and the tires.

      3. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
        17th March 2016, 9:26

        @xtwl That is extremely harsh on Ricciardo: the validity of the comparison with Vettel aside, he was simply awesome in 2014, and was rightly ranked top in all ‘Driver of the Year’ polls.

        His victories are owed, in part, to misfortune for Mercedes, but equally pertinent was gutsy, bold and just plain brilliant driving. In Canada he overtook Perez on the grass around the outside of T1 in one of the best moves I’ve ever seen, in Hungary he made a contrary pit strategy work but still had to put in two perfectly executed, stunning manoeuvres, and in Belgium he gave a masterclass in remaining calm under pressure, putting his best lap in on the last lap despite being closed by Rosberg by upwards of three seconds a lap.

        Otherwise, he generally spent the year leaving the least on the table in qualifying, managing his tyres better than anyone else in the field and generally extracting the most potential from the car over the weekend. An up-and-down 2015 aside, in 2014 Ricciardo drove like a champion and I will hear nothing to the contrary on that point.

        1. Awesome reply, I completely agree.

      4. petebaldwin (@)
        17th March 2016, 13:02

        @xtwl – I don’t know Vettel is better – from the small comparative evidence we have, I’d say they are pretty close! Much more so than Seb and Kimi.

        We’ll see if it happens but I’d be surprised if there was a clear number 1 and 2 like we currently have with both Tier 1 teams.

    4. “Not exactly out of contract either. Don’t get too excited.” I think this was a giveaway. There are rumors that he extended the contract with Red Bull. Add to that his recent comment that it’d be risky to move before rule change which will potentially benefits his current team the most. He will let the talk continue and doesn’t need to stop it either though, as it’s a good PR for him.

      1. He should extend his contract with RBR. It would be stupid to go to Ferrari where Vettel is hungry again and well embedded in the team. Ferrari always supports the top driver and Dan would need to be heaps better than Vettel to unseat that. Vettel has everything to win if Dan goes there and Dan have everything to lose.

        RBR will rise again. Money and organisation wins and they have the most of both. Like it or hate it, RBR will become a force again within 2 years. They won’t accept anything else. Or they might just leave F1, who knows. If I was Dan I would stay with RBR. At least they will always have the best chassis to show his skills off in the wet (like Austin) even if the engine is down.

        1. With the Aston Martin news today, it’s abundantly clear that they won’t leave the sport. And all rule changes look to be set to help them catch up instantly. So I totally agree with you about Red Bull becoming a force again and that it’s best for him to stay there. Apparently he knows it too.
          What peeves me a bit though, is ‘Ricciardo to Ferrari’ talks always turn into ‘Vettel would never let that happen, Poor Ricciardo won’t get his deserved Ferrari seat because of Vettel’s (alleged) veto’. You see even Ricciardo himself does it quite often (‘I don’t know if Seb wants that, to be honest’), even though he knows things are far more complicated than that. It’s inevitable to some degree, still it’s annoying.

    5. Well since Riciardo and Vettel news naturally progressed in to who is better…

      Jurry is out on that, I wish in 2017 they merge up at Ferrari…

      On face of it Vettel is a more complete driver. He has done all facets of F1 and done it well.

      On other side, Riciardo is Italian enough to have flair and some cornering Magic. I will never forget his sideways Monaco 2014 moments.

      But speaking of magic, Vettel when hooked up in qualifying was second to none…

      In summary Id love to see Vettel and Riciardo on their top game in Ferrari. Maybe Renault will improve and RBR gets close to Ferrari next year. Not entierly impossible.

      In any case Riciardo is the most italian of all drivers Ferrari should get him, if he proceeds to improve..

      1. You won’t get a fair comparison if who the better driver is at Ferrari… They do like their primary and secondary driver roles, it shows certainly throughout their last 30 years and even with Raikonnen in the 2nd seat, I feel us still the secondary driver role…

      2. “In any case Riciardo is the most italian of all drivers Ferrari should get him”

        That’s exactly what will work against Ricciardo. Ferrari don’t want anything to do with Italian drivers.

    6. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
      17th March 2016, 9:04

      Yeah, but given the choice you much rather the acquiescent Bottas, right?

      Of the three muted candidates to replace Raikkonen last year, Bottas is for me comfortably the least threatening to Vettel’s supremacy. Of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo I would struggle to say which is the faster – neither of them had a particularly stunning 2015. If Ricciardo can rekindle the “champion-in-waiting” form he showed in 2014, then the drive ought to be his on merit, although equally once Hulkenberg has crossed the Rubicon and got some results in a fast car he might unlock the potential we all know he has.

      Personally, I would most like to see the Formula BMW ADAC champion, A1GP champion, F3 Euro series champion, GP2 champion and Le Mans winner in Kimi’s seat…

      1. Hulkenberg is over-hyped tbh. Ricciardo deserves that seat much more. Completely agree on Bottas though

        1. I think Ricciardo is over hyped more than Hulkenberg. So far he is a 1 season wonder, the Leicester City of F1 but he may prove me wrong one day.

          1. Exactly

    7. If Ricciardo losses to Kyvatt again and Verstappen is impressive again Ricciardo could lose his Red Bull seat. It would be very hard if Verstappen had to move up to ward off others to get rid of Kyvatt having beaten Ricciardo twice. In fact Ricciardo v team mates would read won 2 lost 3, Kyvatt would be won 3 lost none. Ricciardo may be hot property at the end of 2016 but he is on a tight rope as he could also be thrown out at Red Bull. The Red Bull driver battle is one I really want to see this year with Kyvatt getting better through the course of last year that may have been Ricciardos best chance to beat him, this will be a great battle. Ricciardo has only looked top level in 1 year out of 4 in F1 the others have been so so.

      1. I am not sure that if you read between the lines that Ricciardo lost to Kvyat last year. There was really only 2 race weekends where Kvyat had the upper hand. Canada and Mexico. Apart from that Ricciardo mostly beat him fair and square. The point may not show this, but even Kvyat last week said as much.

        Also regarding Verne beating him. Well, RB were the ones with the most information at hand and they chose Ricciardo over him. Verne was out of the picture early on in that decision. Dan kept making it to Q3 by smashing Verne in qualifying. But as a result, he had to use those tyres in the race and Verne got new ones (usually of a different compound). Dan outperformed the car in qualifying, but the car and tyres brought him back to his real position in the race. Yes, points may say Verne beat him, but that is a small part of the picture. RB certainly knew that and that is why they promoted him and discounted Verne early on. Best to not get hung up on points when you are in the mid field. Just aim to perform every week and hope to get noticed for your strengths.

        1. Points win titles not the opinion of what your fans think you deserve. Ricciardo is simply not good enough thus far other than 1 season out of 4. Lose this year and the pattern would be he losses more often than not over a 5 year period, this should see him exit Red Bull and back to the midfield.

          1. Hamilton is better than Button. For me that is a fact. However during their time at McLaren

            Wins: Hamilton 10 / Button 8
            Podiums: Hamilton 22 / Button 25
            Points finishes: Hamilton 45 / Button 47
            Overall points: Hamilton 657 / Button 672
            Seasons finished higher in standings: Hamilton 2 / Button 1
            Highest championship placing: Hamilton 4th (2010, 2012) / Button 2nd (2011)

            You can’t just look at points. There is more too it than that.

            1. That’s easy to answer, it is not cumulative points over seasons as points are re set every season. I also believe Hamilton is better than Button and this is shown by the fact that in 3 years as team mates Hamilton scored more points than Button for 2 seasons versus 1 season. There is nothing more to who to chose in your team as to who has scored more points than the other per season over a few seasons, the whole point of a good driver is to outscore the other drivers over a season, then you reset and go again the next season. So far Ricciardo over 4 years is 50/50 and if he loses to Kyvatt again that means Kyvatt who is 5 years younger will have a records of 3-0 versus 2-3. I know who I would chose if push came to shove. 1 season is too short to tell, 2 is better, 3 really shows a pattern.

        2. i find these typical fan things, to already talk about next year, but it’s also a fun exercise. This is a whole new year and the drivers will be reviewed on this year, cause last year was a big mess anyway with the engines. Very hard to judge them, both made mistakes trying to make up for the engine. Kvyat only had one year in the TR before being promoted to there bull and it clearly took a bit of time to get used. I heard a lot of people saying Kvyat would leave RB this year, while it was very clear that Horner wanted to keep both drivers. I think it’s an even match and I suspect both drivers will be very close this year. They also seem to get along and both think of the team. If one has to go it will be a difficult decision.

          1. Agreed. It is a difficult decision. Kvyat is a very good racer IMO. I think Ricciardo outperformed him last year even if the points didn’t show it. But if he hadn’t have outperformed him, there would have been something wrong. Dan’s been in F1 way longer and had been with RBR for a year as well. Kvyat had it all to play for. He did OK, but nothing outstanding. Next year is the year for both of them. Verstappen and Sainz are both trying to steal their spot and unless Ric and Kvyat both deliver huge, one of them is going to lose their seat. I think they won’t both deliver enough, so one will go. I am unsure who, but at the monent, Dan must have the upper hand. 21 races to go though.

      2. markp, I know you don’t share the opinion about Ricciardo but know this: in the eyes of RBR management he is up on Kvyat as he performed better than Kvyat last year.
        If both had the same kind of year as last year (Ricciardo better than Kvyat, but Kvyat accumulating more points) and someone needed to go to make room for Verstappen, it would be Kvyat. And I’m willing to bet a good amount of money on that.

        1. That would be crazy as if they were at Merc instead of RedBull you would be getting rid of a champion for the past 2 years for the loser. Logic dictates it will be Ricciardo who is out surely as he would have a 60% loss rate to team mates. You can make excuses for luck and such things up to a point but the facts would be over whelming.

        2. Ricciardo is also very good for Red Bull’s marketing team.

          1. Might as well get Carmen Jorda then.

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