Always suffused with conjecture and supposition, Formula One’s phoney war will end with the firing of engines in earnest at the Australian Grand Prix next Sunday. Expectations are it will herald another battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Daniel Ricciardo, however, has other ideas – this is a fight the local boy desperately wants to join.
The Australian has a point to prove and a combative hunger coupled with confidence he is reaching his peak. If Red Bull can give him the competitive car he desires, Ricciardo will be gunning for both world champions.
Hamilton and Vettel are the headline acts after their close scrap last season and both look to be in shape to repeat the struggle. Mercedes are ominously strongand Ferrari have carried their well-balanced car into 2018. But Red Bull, out of contention last season, have taken a major step. Testing suggested they may even have the edge on the Scuderia and Ricciardo is looking to enter a title contest for the first time.
Given the chance to do so, the decisive and sometimes breathtaking overtaker is unequivocal his approach on track will stand him in good stead. “In the end you have to just pull the trigger,” he says. “Trust the car, trust the brakes, just go. It is a calculated but fearless approach – I am going to try and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I will be happier if I crash by trying than not trying and running around behind the same guy for 70 laps.”
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
