Daniel Ricciardo admits the realisation of losing both his home races, in Australia and Monaco, this hurts the most.
Already, the first eight Grand Prix’s of 2020 have either been postponed or cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the race in Monte Carlo now not on the Formula 1 schedule for the first time since 1954.
In recent days, however, there have been signs that the Canadian or French GP in June could be where the season finally gets underway, but that is little comfort for Ricciardo.
“I’m not like racing laps in my head yet because I don’t know what track we’re going to be racing on,” the Renault driver said this week.
“I watched an onboard of Monaco last night and got a bit sad. I don’t really know where we’re going to be but that one hurt me.
“They are all going to hurt. Melbourne being so close as well. The reality is setting in, unfortunately.”
In the meantime, Ricciardo is keeping himself sharp in Perth with a mix of training and spending time on his tractor.
“Training is definitely the thing that’s keeping me with that competitive mindset. You can get a bit of anger out when you train, so that’s been my medicine for now,” he said.
“It’s been nice knowing we’ve got time and we don’t have to rush. I think you’re going to see a lot of drivers, and people in general, when this is over, will all look pretty fit.
“I’ve got some buggies here and I have set up some tracks so I am getting a racing fix so that has helped release some of that speed and adrenaline.”
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This week, Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has stated he is targeting a 15-18 race calendar in 2020, with the finale in Abu Dhabi pushed back to December.
And the thought of so much racing in a short period of time is quite daunting for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
“18 races in six months is actually crazy,” he told Viasat. “But if it’s like that, then so be it and we’ll see our families again at Christmas. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s going to be a huge task.”
It has been suggested F1 could introduce a new two-day weekend format that was being considered for the future to try and reduce some of the travelling time for those heading to each race.