Why Does Mark Webber Fear For Daniel Ricciardo’s Future?

Some of the finest F1 drivers happen to be Australians. They’ve done their fair share of contributing to the sport that needs both skill and grit to succeed at the top levels. To that end, the likes of Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, and Mark Webber have bought Australia a lot of pride and success.

Have they not? But the past stars from Down Under have done their respective job and the now the baton has passed to the racers from the contemporary era. To that end, the torch has been passed onto one Daniel Ricciardo. It is Daniel Ricciardo who’s actually expected to bring the ultimate glory to Australia, and thus raise the mantle of F1 in his own special way: win a world title.

And surely, from the time he made his F1 debut, Daniel Ricciardo has impressed both critics and admirers alike. The former Toro Rosso driver reached his pinnacle, as seen so far, with Christian Horner-led Red Bull, a team with which he won 7 races and bagged 29 podiums. Some of his race wins have been borne out of exceptional skill and daring.

A reference to the context goes to the thrilling wins at China 2019 and Azerbaijan 2017. Weren’t those victories indicative of pure racing at the highest level?

To that end, as the ‘Honeybadger‘ Daniel Ricciardo moved to Renault, his shift was closely followed by the likes of Mark Webber, someone who’s big on his fellow Aussie’s career and expects him to do well, living up to his full potential. But truth be told, ever since Ricciardo has moved onto to Renault, a team he duly noted may take its own pace to work upon the grid, there’s been no dearth of comments and observations leveled by both self-titled experts and key figures in the paddock.

For the sheer dramatic reception that Daniel’s Renault move fetched, it may no longer be incorrect or unfair to call this career-shift as polarising. There are clearly those who feel that Daniel Ricciardo has done the ‘right thing.’ He was, according to many, not the best guy at Red Bull anyway, for whom Max seems the priority. On the other hand, there are those who do label the move as being somewhat fraught with indecision and blurriness in the sense that the Australian may have wanted to work out something better.

That said, Mark Webber has also been noting the results that Daniel Ricciardo, soon to be 30, is fetching his black and gold-liveried racing marquee.

And if you were a critic, someone not too keen on Daniel’s switch to Renault, then you may feel that the move may not be the best thing to have happened to the Aussie, right? After all, four races down, Ricciardo, with 2 DNFs, a finish well outside the points, and only one points-finish (P7 at China) has been rather ordinary.

And perhaps it’s this concern for a genuinely good and quick driver, someone who’s tipped for a world title that’s got Mark Webber talking.

The former Red Bull driver, one no stranger to glories and bitter enmities on the grid had the following to say on Daniel Ricciardo, who is currently struggling in that Renault, a car to which his German teammate Nico Hulkenberg has adapted more easily to:

“It happens every race, it’s such a competitive business with so many young guys coming in,” Mark Webber said in an interview with Wide World of Sports.

“Daniel hasn’t forgotten how to drive, but the form guide changes very quickly in this sport.

“A driver’s momentum and his career can be challenged.

“He’s valued, but clearly he’s not in a good position at the moment. That’s obvious. You need results, you need to be drinking the champagne on the podium.

“That’s what concerned me with this move, so let’s hope the team can lift for him and start getting results.

But the above told, a question now for Daniel Ricciardo. While he’s himself a witness to the strange anomalies in his current car- unless one forgot the reliability issues- what is Ricciardo’s key takeaway from the races he’s driven in so far in that Renault?

The future of F1 is dependent on exuberant names on the grid, of the likes of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly. But there’s also Daniel Joseph Ricciardo, someone who’s tipped to be a future world champion. But is that moment of crowning glory happening to Ricciardo with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari being what they are at this time?