Although Ricciardo has had to endure a painful start to the 2022 season, the 'Honey Badger' is ready to give it his all in his home race.
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McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo said that he was excited to finally return to Australia to race after three years and that he is looking forward to experiencing the ‘awesome atmosphere’ in Melbourne. The Australian GP had been traditionally the first race of a season for a while until 2019. It has been two years since the land down under has hosted an F1 race but 2022 is the year where that all changes. Ricciardo is the only Aussie on the grid and although he has had to endure a painful start to the 2022 season, the ‘Honey Badger’ is ready to give it his all in his home race.
“I’m excited to go home, definitely, it’s been a while,” said Ricciardo. “I’ve heard sales have been nuts and it’s going to be an awesome atmosphere so I cannot wait.” The McLaren driver also mentioned that his former Red Bull teammate and current driver’s champion Max Verstappen was also excited to return to Australia.
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“Max [Verstappen] is cheering!” Ricciardo joked. “He’s excited to go as well. It’s personal to me because I am Aussie and it’s a home one and that’s a privilege, but every driver I speak to about Melbourne, they love it, they love it as an event. It’s exciting to go through the track changes as well this year, see what kind of racing that produces. So, just a big bundle of excitement.”
Albert Park has been subject to some changes since Formula One last paid it a visit. The number of corners has been reduced to 14 from 16 and some of them have been widened to improve the racing experience for the drivers. Ricciardo believes that the changes will have a positive impact on race weekend as they would create more overtaking opportunities than before.
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“I think with the new design at Albert Park, it’s really focused on improving the racing, the spectacle on Sunday, to create more opportunities for overtaking,” said Ricciardo.
“It’s a beautiful circuit but it’s always been quite narrow and tight, and therefore quite tricky to overtake on. So we’ve really tried to exploit some areas to allow more slipstreaming, to allow for more chances for overtaking under braking. So I think it’s going to be a different spectacle this time round.”
“Us drivers, a bunch of us were consulted on this. We were allowed to give our thoughts and input… We might not all be aligned but I think the purpose of this is to make the Sunday better. I had that in mind when I gave my input. If 2022 promises everything it does with being able to follow and the racing to be enhanced, then coming to a circuit like Albert Park with these changes should make a pretty amazing spectacle,” the Aussie concluded.
