Daniel Ricciardo in profile

As arrivals at the forefront of the Formula 1 grid go, Daniel Ricciardo's has proved to be one of the most spectacular - and popular - in recent memory.

Not content with just becoming the first team-mate to defeat quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel over a season in his first year at Red Bull, the affable Australian bounced back from a tough second campaign with an outstanding 2016, deservedly claiming the Malaysia GP after heartbreak in Spain and Monaco.

A maiden world championship is next on Ricciardo's wishlist and 2017's aerodynamic overhaul could play into both Red Bull and the 27-year-old's hands. One thing's for sure, the man now famous for his Shoey podium celebrations looks destined to become a future great with his relentless speed and swashbuckling driving style.

As is the norm for up-and-coming drivers these days, Ricciardo comes from a karting background, having started as a nine-year-old before going on to win the Western Australian Formula Ford Championship driving a 15-year-old Van Diemen.

His success saw him win a scholarship into the Formula BMW Asian Championship with Eurasia Motorsport and from there he moved to Formula Renault with Rp Motorsport, entering the European and Italian Championships of the category. He remained a part of the series in 2008, racing in the European and Western European Championships, taking his first European title in the Western European Cup and finishing second in the Eurocup to Valtteri Bottas.

The Australian moved to the British Formula Three Championship in 2009 with Carlin Motorsport and won the title by 87 points from Walter Grubmuller.

At the end of the year the Red Bull-backed starlet was handed the chance to test the energy drinks firm's F1 car in the young driver sessions at Jerez and the strong impression he made saw him named as their reserve driver for the following season, which he dovetailed with racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Tech 1 where he finished second.

And although he remained in the series for 2011, this time with ISR, Ricciardo's reputation was growing far beyond the junior categories. On the back of another impressive appearance in the Young Driver Test the previous winter, Ricciardo was given the chance to take part in Friday practice sessions with Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso.

At the 2011 British GP, it was announced that Spanish backmarkers HRT had signed him for the remainder of the season in place of Narain Karthikeyan. It didn't take long for Ricciardo to take the fight to new team-mate Tonio Liuzzi, and with very few mistakes and a continuous upswing, it was the vastly more experienced Italian who was forced to make way when Karthikeyan made his expected one-off return for India's inaugural race.

Ricciardo's impressive efforts finally earned him the call up to Toro Rosso to partner Jean-Eric Vergne at the start of 2012 and Daniel was in the points at the first attempt - at his home Australian GP debut no less - with ninth place.

Although it was Vergne who finished one place higher in the standings, Ricciardo dominated their qualifying head-to-head - something which continued in 2013. When Webber announced in June of that year that he was retiring from F1 for sportscars, Ricciardo was immediately named on Red Bull's shortlist, although most thought at the time that the seat was likely to go to Kimi Raikkonen.

However, it was Ricciardo who was handed the coveted drive after an impressive test for Red Bull at Silverstone, even though he did initially beach the RB9 in the gravel.

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