In the run-up to the start of pre-season testing Motorsport Week brings you left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserves that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
Of the 20-strong 2019 Formula 1 grid six of the drivers started out – or will start out – at Sauber, five at Toro Rosso, four at Williams, three at McLaren, and one at Renault.
The other started with a team that spent its brief stint in Formula 1 mired towards the back of the grid, running chronically underdeveloped cars on a shoestring budget, but doing so with a spirit that typified underdog efforts – that was HRT, and that driver was Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo was regarded as one of Red Bull’s next potential stars and by mid-2011 an opportunity arose with the minnow Spanish squad. Helmut Marko opted to place Ricciardo, who already had test and practice experience with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, in the HRT F111 from the British Grand Prix onwards.
Ricciardo recounted the story during a recent piece for The Players’ Tribune. “I was in my kitchen in Milton Keynes, U.K., with my parents on a rainy June day in 2011. My phone buzzed on the table. It was Helmut. “Daniel,” he said, “you’re driving for HRT next week at the British Grand Prix.” I nearly dropped the bloody phone. That whole weekend was a blur. I sat beside Rubens Barrichello in the press conference. I had scruffy hair hanging out from under my hat — I looked like an idiot (haha). The media were asking Rubens to give me some advice. I was like, I’ve watched this guy my entire life, and he’s probably never even heard of me. I got lapped like four times on Sunday, and the day was a total mess … but, s***, it was awesome.”
Ricciardo remained with HRT for the rest of the season – finishing a high of 18th – as he gradually got to grips with Formula 1, and also continued to race in Formula Renault 3.5 on non-clashing weekends, before a move to Toro Rosso beckoned for 2012.
HRT, meanwhile, lasted just one more season in Formula 1 as the worsening financial climate in its native Spain, and the impending added expense of the new-for-2014 regulations, skewered the team. It closed its doors at the end of 2012, having failed to score a point in three years, but it at least has the record of having given a future multiple Grand Prix winner his debut…
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