Berger : Ricciardo can be champion'

Daniel Ricciardo is world championship material, according to F1 legend Gerhard Berger.

Berger, a former race winner for McLaren and Ferrari, said he has been impressed with the 24-year-old Australian since he stepped up to Red Bull this year.

"He still has not made a mistake," the Austrian told the APA news agency.

"He is a new star. If he has a car that is right, he can be world champion."

Ricciardo won his first grand prix in Canada last weekend, two places ahead of his high-profile teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Berger knows Vettel well, having given the German his first seat in formula one in 2007 when he co-owned the Toro Rosso team.

"We know how good and fast Vettel is, a four-time world champion. But at the moment, Ricciardo is the measure of things for the team," he said.

"If Ricciardo had not had the penalties at the beginning of the season, he would be just behind Lewis Hamilton in the world championship," added Berger.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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