F1 Fanatic

My dislike of Ricciardo stems from the fact that people read too much into his Abu Dhabi times, and thus making him overrated.

Whilst I agree with you that this is not the best thing for Hispania to be doing, I couldn’t help but notice how silly that statement sounds. That’s no reason to dislike a driver, my friend. If there’s anyone you should be criticising, it’s the media and those said fans that “read too much into his Abu Dhabi times”, not the man that drove a car to the best of his ability and attracted media attention.

You’ve basically said that you don’t like Daniel Ricciardo because other people like him.

Yeh, it’s not like he’s been competitive in F3.5. Oh wait, he has. 2nd last year, 4th this year after missing the first 2 race (of 9 so far).

Anyway, I don’t see why this is so bad for HRT. They’re probably going to get some money out of it and Karthikeyan isn’t any great loss. Remember this is only his second season in F1 – if anything, Liuzzi’s experience and input is more valuable.

Ricciardo joining HRT isn’t bad for HRT. Most probably, Ricciardo will be quicker than Liuzzi, and if HRT want to attempt to beat Lotus (as they were claiming recently), then Ricciardo is their best bet.

Lets face it, anyone can go faster than Karthikeyan.. any of the reserve drivers of any of the current teams can step into an HRT and go quicker than Narain.

What in Formula Renault? Winning 2 races in that class does not warrant an F1 drive. Neither driver deserves a spot just yet.

I was thinking more the second palce he took in the 2010 championship. I believe that’s one of the major arguments his supporters use.

you have basically said there that you dislike him because others can see potential

No, I dislike him because although his times in Abu Dhabi were good, people are already setting him up as Webber’s replacement at Red Bull. It’s Kamui Kobayashi all over again: he shows early promise and people start expecting big things of him before he’s even had a chance to prove himself. In 2009, Kobayashi won “pass of the year” for his move on Button in Abu Dhabi – but Button had just come out of the pits, fuel-heavy and on cold tyres. It was inevitable that Kobayashi was going to catch him, and his move at the hairpin was actually quite dangerous and very nearly took them both out. I see the same thing happening with Ricciardo: people see the early promise and rather than give him a chance to show his true talent, they bury him under the weight of expectations. I’ve already heard people on another forum claim that if Ricciardo is indeed racing at Silverstone, Hispania have a real chance of beating Team Fernandes.

In my opinion (Which is not humble – I’m not afraid people will take it the wrong way and I’m not holding back. I believe in what I’m saying enough to argue my point effectively, I’m not at all concerned people will perceive me as being arrogant. My opinion matters and I’m willing to risk upsetting someone. I have the balls to argue my point) Ricciardo still had to be pretty good at the young drivers’ test to be the fastest – some cars weren’t much slower than Red Bull and it still takes some talent to beat the other youngsters, even if Daniel was in a faster car. There’s a reason he’s rated so highly. And even if he is overrated it’s not a reason to dislike him.

I hope he gets the seat and gets some experience while impressing Red Bull further and hopefully he gets a decent car next year.

“…In the same vein, I would not be surprised if Karun Chandhok drives for Fernandes at Buddh International.”

The hearing is done and dusted – the name is Team Lotus whether you approve or not…

As regards the Ricciardo story, why not? Narain is just making up the numbers and its some great preparation ahead of a 2012 race seat.

We already have Red Bull and Torro Rosso, so if this story is true and Red Bull are now partially supporting HRT, it begs the question..

How do you say Red Bull in Spanish..? :P