Daniel Ricciardo designs his ultimate F1 track after picking favourite bits from around the world
DANIEL Ricciardo has unveiled his dream F1 racetrack featuring a combination of his favourite corners from circuits all over the world.
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THIS is one serious racetrack.
Red Bull star Daniel Ricciardo has unveiled his ultimate Formula One circuit, comprising his favourite turns, straights and chicanes from his top race tracks around the world.
On an Australian pit stop in between the Singapore and Malaysian Grand Prix, Ricciardo showed off a huge model of his dream racetrack in Perth on Thursday.
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Ricciardo’s ultimate track includes the famous swimming pool section in Monaco, the esses at Suzuka and a trio of flowing turns from his home Grand Prix at Albert Park.
“Drivers always picture what their ultimate track would look like and it’s exciting to see mine brought to life,” Ricciardo said
“I look at the map and I go, ‘Wow, it looks busy’, but I think it would be a lot of fun if some drivers got to drive on it.
“I wish I was 10 years old again and had a big garage that I could fit this in ... the track is awesome.
“There’s a few difficult (turns), I thought I would mix it up. There is definitely some favourites, but the favourites are not that straightforward.
.@danielricciardo and Nic Naitanui racing the Red Bull star's ultimate F1 track @heraldsunsport pic.twitter.com/MSkBvFmzKu
— Rebecca Williams (@BecHeraldSun) September 22, 2016
“I love corners that have flow and go from one to the other and you can really build a rhythm. I say you connect the dots, you get the first part right then it joins into the second, the third, so that’s really where you can build a flow, feel the race car, feel the downforce and the grip.”
Ricciardo, coming off a second-place finish at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, rated the swimming pool Monaco section as his favourite part of the track — and in the Formula One championship.
“In real life, Monaco, the swimming pool section, that for me is awesome,” Ricciardo said.
“You can see how fast the car bounces over the curbs there, gets over the barriers, so for pure satisfaction and adrenaline, that is the one for me.”
He rated the snaking section at Suzuka as his next favourite, while he chose the section from his home Grand Prix for its “flow” and “fun”.
“I enjoy Albert Park and the circuit. (Turns) six, seven, eight has got for me — it has got that flow ... and it’s fun,” Ricciardo said.
Formula One commentator Martin Brundle offered his analysis of Ricciardo’s track.
“You can tell Daniel Ricciardo drives a Red Bull because there’s lots of corners and squiggly bits and he likes sections where one corner very much follows another,” Brundle said.
“But you can also tell that Daniel wishes Daniel wishes he had a Mercedes engine as well because there are a lot of long straights to build up some good speed.”
TOP STEER: Daniel Ricciardo on some of the best bits
ALBERT PARK
“I picked (turns) six, seven, eight. For me, what I always enjoy in a track is a flow, or combination of corners put together and that was the section where it kinks left, then drops right and then left again. It’s a cool little part of the track where you could just get in and get out quite well.’’
SUZUKA
“The first sector in Suzuka where it climbs up the hill like a snake, a bit of a rollercoaster sort of feeling. That’s cool.”
MONACO
“The swimming pool in Monaco, around the swimming pool, a fast chicane, jump on the curbs, get close to the wall and you can really feel the car through there.”
AUSTIN
“Austin turn one, it’s a real unique corner, it’s really wide at the apex, something which we don’t really have anywhere else on the calendar and it creates good opportunities for overtaking. I love Austin.”
SPA
“Puohon at Spa, turns 10-11, it’s just a fast downhill left-hander that requires quite a bit of bit of bravery. I quite enjoyed that one.”
SILVERSTONE
“Silverstone Maggott’s, Becketts, it’s sort of like Suzuka but it’s a bit shorter, tighter, quicker and not uphill, so a bit faster. It’s sort of a left, right, left, right, left combination, you arrive in eighth, down to seven, down to sixth, down to fifth and then out of it, so it’s cool.”
#1 MONACO
“Monaco, the swimming pool section, that for me is awesome. You can see how fast the car bounces over the curbs there, gets over the barriers, so for pure satisfaction and adrenaline, that is the one.”
- Interview: Rebecca Williams
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