MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo Red Bull’s No 1 now

A year ago Red Bull Racing was Sebastian Vettel’s team totally as he won nine straight Formula One races and a fourth consecutive world title; from now it will revolve around Australian Daniel Ricciardo.

Vettel is off – to Ferrari it seems, in place of Fernando Alonso, unless the Italian team is going to pay out Kimi Raikkonen early a second time. Alonso is set to rejoin a newly Honda-powered McLaren, with which he had such a tumultuous 2007 season.

Vettel vehemently denies his move, echoing that of his German countryman Michael Schumacher 15 years ago, has been prompted by having been outperformed by Ricciardo this season.

And Ricciardo has given no credence, only his customary smile, to the suggestion that his form – three wins to Vettel’s none and the only victor other than Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year – has driven the German out of Red Bull.

While a development as big as the storm about to hit Japan had been brewing in F1, the Vettel news at Suzuka on Saturday was a bolt from the blue.

Even Alonso was surprised, although he pointed out – accurately as much as arrogantly – that he is the one in the “privileged position” and that Vettel’s announcement was “an implication of what I am deciding”.

Ricciardo, who in his first season with Red Bull Racing amazingly has outshone Vettel consistently, had no advance warning of the German’s decision to depart at the end of this year.

“I was quite surprised by Sebastian’s news – I didn’t know,” Ricciardo said.

“Seb’s done his work here at Red Bull and he feels it’s time to move on.

“I’m glad I got one year to race with him and see how he works.

“I heard a lot about his work ethic before the season and it was good to see that this year and to go against him.

“I definitely am happy with my season, and I’m happy with my performances alongside Seb, so that’s been encouraging.”

Ricciardo, 25, will be the most experienced driver in the Red Bull stable – including its junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso – next season, but said he would not be bouncing around proclaiming himself its No 1.

However, he undoubtedly will be the team leader, presumably with a hefty pay rise into the multi-million-dollar bracket.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner promptly named 20-year-old Russian Daniil Kyvat will be promoted to become Ricciardo’s teammate after just one season at Toro Rosso.

Kyvat took one of Vettel’s records – the youngest driver to score an F1 world championship point – on debut in Melbourne in March, when he was still a teenager, and it is him who effectively has ended the career within Red Bull of Ricciardo contemporary Jean-Eric Vergne.

Ricciardo said 27-year-old Vettel’s exit and Kyvat’s arrival would be “two pretty big changes for the team”.

“I expect Daniil to be quick – I know him pretty well and it should be good fun working with him.

“I’ve tried to do as much as I can for the team this year in terms of steering them in the right direction and I guess that will increase next year.

“Daniil will probably take a little while to form his relationships with them, so I guess there’s a bit more responsibility on me to at least steer them in the best direction to start off as possible.

“I’ve enjoyed this year with Seb. I’ll enjoy the last few races (four after Suzuka) and then see how we get on with Daniil, but it should be good.”

Horner said it would be “an exciting new dawn for Red Bull Racing”.

It was Horner who made known that Vettel was bound for Ferrari, the sport’s most successful and revered team but likely to end this season winless for the first time in two decades.

Of Vettel’s decision, Horner said: “If it’s his desire to be somewhere else, then it’s not right for us to stand in his path. We warmly thank Sebastian for the incredible role he has played for the last six years.

“I think he fancied a new challenge. That’s his prerogative and, like in any relationship, if someone’s heart is not in it then it’s time to move on.

“It’s the end of a cycle of course, but it’s also the start of a new cycle: Daniel is doing a great job this year and has got three wins already – he shows the new strength we have coming through.

“And we’re excited about the prospect of Kvyat lining up with him. They’re the next generation.”

Helmut Marko, the Austrian ex-F1 racer who is even more powerful in the Red Bull motorsport structure than Horner as the envoy of the drink company’s owner Dietrich Mateschitz, said: “We split amicably [with Vettel]. There’s no bad feeling, either on our side or on his side. Life goes on.”

Vettel has been part of the Red Bull racing “family” for 15 years, initially in karting, then through the junior open-wheeler ranks and at Toro Rosso, transformed from the Minardi team and for which he miraculously scored his first GP victory in the wet at Italy’s Monza in 2008.

Since then he’s won another 38 with Red Bull Racing, but the decision of the creator of the cars in which he notched all those victories, Adrian Newey, to scale back to a part-time consultant may well have been the decisive factor in Vettel’s move – and, in time, may weigh on Ricciardo too.

Vettel has had more difficulty that most F1 drivers in adapting to this year’s hybrid engine rules and this move is not guaranteed to be a winner either for him or Ferrari.

For now though, publicly at least, Vettel has been more reflective than predictive.

“We had an incredible run [at Red Bull Racing] the last five or six years,” Vettel said.

“Obviously this year was not the way we were hoping for, but it’s part of racing, part of life.
“I’m not leaving because I don’t like the team or individuals. I’m not running away from anything.

“The voice inside, the hunger to do something new, was bigger.

“It is a tough step after such a long time together with Red Bull.

“After so many fantastic years, I did and still am enjoying my time, but at some stage in life you want to do something else, something new.

“It is not the first time I have been approached, but it felt like the right time.

“It is not a decision based on current results. A decision like this does not happen overnight.

“It is always a big decision when a relationship like that comes to an end, but there is nothing negative in the air. That is what made the decision so difficult for me.

“I’m leaving a very happy place, but at some point in your life you feel you want to do something new.

“You have to listen to your heart. That voice kept growing and led me to decide to leave Red Bull and start a new chapter.

“I’m full of hope and full of faith that anywhere I go I will succeed.”