THERE’S not much time to be scared of anything in a Formula One car.
Reaching speeds of up to 370km/h, F1 drivers are put to a serious test — and possible death — on every single corner of the 21-race championship.
Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo admitted to Fox Sports he’s pretty fearless behind the wheel of his Red Bull beast.
When asked if going into a corner at top speed was the scariest moment possible in an F1 car, Ricciardo responded saying he didn’t fear much on the track.
“The cars are so balanced, you can do 350km/h down the straight,” he said. “Sure, the first time feels a bit wild. But that’s not the difficult part, I guess anyone could build up to that pretty quickly.
“It’s seeing the corner approach at you fast and knowing the later you break and enter the corner is essentially the quicker way around it.”
“Your body is saying: ‘Alright, you have to hit the break now or you’re going to hit the wall’.
“I don’t know if it’s fear. I get a lot of excitement and adrenaline — I guess there’s a bit of fear in that — but that’s at the back of your mind.
“Fear creates that adrenaline and that’s part of why [F1 drivers] do it, I think.”
But when it came to footy as a youngster, the 27-year-old speedster admitted a hard truth. The Perth-born star opened up on his time on the footy oval as a youngster.
“[My playing was] not at a good level,” he said.
“Hand-eye coordination skills [were] very good I must say. Ball skills not too bad [either], but I was a bit of a wuss.”
“I was a bit scrawny, I wasn’t a hard ball-getter unfortunately.
Ricciardo admitted saying he was a “wuss” contradicted with his profession as a speed racer, but the famously-humble star couldn’t hold back from bragging about his kicking skills.
“Everyone’s like: ‘You race the fastest cars in the world!’ But it’s different. I can snap one from the pocket, I’m alright at that.”
Formula One ace and West Coast Eagles superfan Dan Ricciardo says he was ‘a bit of a wuss’ on the footy field.Source:News Corp Australia
When asked about his relationship status, Ricciardo laughed, confirming his bachelor’s status before admitting to another hard truth.
“It’s rough,” he said as he looked directly at the camera. “It’s really not easy, kids.”
Ricciardo knows his Red Bull is faster than last year but whether it’s quick enough to catch Mercedes in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix is still to be determined.
Ricciardo finished fourth on the Albert Park street circuit last year, and third in the Formula One overall title standings behind Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and now-retired champion Nico Rosberg.
The 27-year-old said winter testing at Red Bull, alongside teenage prodigy Max Verstappen, had been the best he’d been involved with and hoped this could be his year.
Ricciardo said in testing his Red Bull was less than half a second behind the pace-setting Mercedes.
“It’s hard to know, testing is never really a clear picture,” Ricciardo said on Wednesday.
“I expect Ferrari and Mercedes to be quick and I hope we can be with them as well.
“We’re coming here pretty confident.” While Rosberg took line honours in Melbourne last year, an overhaul in F1 aerodynamics with wider tyres and bodywork has made the cars faster and physically harder to drive.
To be fair, Dan’s job on the track seems much scarier.Source:Getty Images
After posting the fastest lap time there in 2016, Ricciardo could threaten Michael Schumacher’s 2004 Albert Park lap record.
Ricciardo said his car was doing close to 40km/hr faster through the corners of their Barcelona testing.
“We’ve gone from 220km to 260 so that’s a big difference and that’s more fun for sure,” he said.
“I think as a spectator now when you’re paying money to see a race and you see us corner at these speeds, you’re getting more for your money as well.” The West Australian said driving the new cars had proved more physically draining, although he felt that would come into play more in hotter conditions later in the year.
Ricciardo said he was satisfied with his performance in 2016 but that didn’t mean he didn’t have the hunger to be crowned world champion. “I will work hard and prepare for it to happen but last year I didn’t win the title and I was still very happy with the year.
“I got my first pole and got back on the top step.
“For me to perform at my best I think I will be happy. I would be very happy with the world title.”
— with AAP
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