Australian Daniel Ricciardo stepped out from the shadow of his Red Bull team-mate, quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel and onto the top of the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday, making a sensational debut as Formula One’s newest winner.
Moving into the seat left vacant by compatriot Mark Webber, who retired at the end of last season, the move has proven to be a very comfortable fit for both Red Bull and Ricciardo.
“I’m still in a bit of shock, this is ridiculous,” said a smiling Ric-ciardo.
“It all happened in the last few laps so that’s why I think it’s still taking a while to comprehend it in my head.”
Vettel remains the main man at Red Bull but the 24-year-old from Perth has marked himself out as a driver to watch.
He has consistently outpaced and outperformed his team-mate this season, displaying the type of quickness and potential that could ultimately make him number one at Red Bull if Vettel decides to leave when his contract expires at the end of 2015.
“We’ve been enormously impressed with Daniel, we knew he was quick,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
“We weren’t quite sure how quick but we could see from his time in the simulator, test driving for us and his performances for Toro Rosso he had great natural speed.
“When we selected him I don’t think any of us could have imagined the type of performances that he has turned in so far.”
The breakthrough win marked the third successive trip to the podium for Ricciardo following third-place finishes in Monaco and Spain.
While it seemed only a matter of time before he would reach the top of the podium it was not expected to come in Canada with Red Bull still playing catch-up to the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who had won every race this season coming into Montreal.
Starting sixth on the grid, Ric-ciardo kept his Red Bull near the front and when the Mercedes faltered late in the race the Australian struck, roaring past championship leader Rosberg on the penultimate lap.
The race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended behind the safety car after Felipe Massa’s Williams smashed into Sergio Perez’s Force India as they entered the final lap, allowing Ricciardo to cruise to victory ahead of Rosberg and Vettel.
“We benefited from a bit of misfortune from Mercedes but Daniel had to be there to capitalise on that,” said Horner.
“Behind that massive smile is a huge amount of determination and steel and he’s just getting better and better. It’s great to have him in the team and two drivers that are really excelling and working closely and hard together.”