Daniel Ricciardo might be on the side lines this season but he has experienced a glittering career in Formula 1, with 8 wins, 32 podiums and 1311 points.
Having returned to his old team Red Bull this year as a reserve driver, the Australian has enjoyed an emotional reunion with the car that delivered his first victory in Formula 1.
The 33-year-old recorded his maiden win almost nine years ago at the Canadian Grand Prix, driving the R10 to victory ahead of the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel.
Despite only qualifying in P6 that day, much to Ricciardo’s annoyance, the Australian managed to power through the grid to take victory at the chequered flag – four seconds clear of his nearest rival.
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“I loved this car,” Ricciardo told Red Bull’s YouTube channel after being reunited with the RB10 at the team’s HQ in Milton Keynes.
“First one [victory in F1]. 2014, so this was Montreal, Budapest and Spa.
“First year with the team, this car changed my career. I remember Canada, I remember everything. I remember the briefing after qualifying that night.
“I was p****d – with myself more than anything – nothing was really going that well for me on that Saturday. And then the next day was pretty awesome.
“All that stuff, all the things that made me upset about the qualifying that day was just because I believed that I belonged further up the front.
“It just fuelled me for the next day, but it was a positive anger. It’s all well and good saying something and looking at yourself in the mirror and believing it but you still have to do it to prove it and crossing the line it was ‘Ah okay, I can do this’.
“On the podium. It was like an image I had seen before. You picture your first win, you picture being up there hearing your [national] anthem and seeing the crowd of people.
“I remember getting up on the top step and looking down and it was actually what I pictured. It was all as I thought it would be.
“This was the car that gave the confidence and reputation of late breaking and some pretty cool moves.”
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While Ricciardo would go on to enjoy two more victories in the 2014 season, he ended the season in P3, almost 150 points behind the eventual title winner Lewis Hamilton.
Ricciardo’s strength behind the wheel was clear as he outscored four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel that season, as the German ended in P5 with just 167 points.
Ricciardo would remain at Red Bull until 2019 when he joined Renault, racing with the team for two seasons before his ill-fated move to McLaren.