Daniel Ricciardo is feeling a “big bundle of excitement” ahead of Formula 1’s first Australian Grand Prix since 2019 this weekend.
It is the second time the Perth native has been home in just four months, after being unable to return since leaving in June 2020, prior to the start of that year’s delayed F1 season.
Beforehand, Ricciardo had spent three months in Australia after the Melbourne race was cancelled on Friday morning following two positive Covid-19 cases at McLaren just as the pandemic was picking up pace globally.
But with F1 now back Down Under for the first time since that fateful March two years ago, the ‘Honey Badger’ is raring to go.
“I’m excited to go home, definitely – it’s been a while,” he told Formula1.com. “I’ve heard [ticket] sales have been nuts and it will be an awesome atmosphere, so I can’t wait.
“Even Max [Verstappen] is cheering!” Ricciardo joked. “He’s excited to go as well.
“It’s personal to me because I’m Aussie and it’s a home one and that’s a privilege, but every driver I speak to about Melbourne 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.”
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As Ricciardo noted, not only is F1 back in Australia but they arrive at a different Albert Park, with the circuit undergoing design changes for the first time since its debut in 1996.
The biggest alteration is the removal of the old Turn 9/10 chicane, while several corners have been widened and reprofiled.
“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,” he said on a video for the Australian GP’s YouTube channel.
“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 will be a different spectacle this time around.
“Us drivers, a bunch of us were consulted on this. We were allowed to give our thoughts and input. We may 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.”