A young Australian driver made his debut at Silverstone during the 2011 British Grand Prix. Now, 13 years later, Daniel Ricciardo is set to start his 250th Formula 1 race in Austria, boasting eight wins and 32 podiums.
“I’m thrilled about Austria for many reasons: it’s my 250th F1 Grand Prix, which is pretty wild. I’m going to have a special helmet design for this weekend, which should be fun and it’s a home race for Red Bull, at the Red Bull Ring, so there’s always a lot of support there,” Daniel Ricciardo said.
He will become the 12th driver in F1 history to reach this milestone and is just six races away from breaking into the Top 10 for most Grands Prix contested. Among active drivers, only Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, and Sergio Perez have competed more times.
Out of his numerous podiums, Ricciardo managed to finish in the top three once at Spielberg in 2017. “We’ll be looking to turn things around after Barcelona. We don’t have much time as it’s a Sprint weekend with only one practice session, so we really must hit the ground running. We’re ready for it!” he declared enthusiastically ahead of his special weekend.
VCARB Expect a Tough Weekend
The VCARB team faced difficulties in Barcelona where both drivers were eliminated in Q1. Ricciardo finished 15th while Yuki Tsunoda ended up in P19. Racing director Alan Permane believes that the Austrian Grand Prix could also be challenging: “The circuit demands a lot from both car and driver with its long straights and heavy braking zones but also some very high-speed corners.”
Fans might think this sounds like another tough challenge for VCARB.
“It’s a Sprint weekend so our preparation has to be perfect,” Permane added. “Pirelli will bring their softest tyres and one challenge will be getting the most out of all three compounds over one lap during Sprint Qualifying on Friday afternoon.”
What do you think about Daniel’s milestone?
