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RB driver Daniel Ricciardo is excited to be back racing at the Monaco Grand Prix after he explains he didn’t know if he “would actually get that experience again” of driving around the principality.
Daniel Ricciardo driving the Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team VCARB01 during the F1 Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna. (Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)The Honey Badger is excited to be back in Monaco
Ricciardo missed out on racing in Monaco in 2023, as the race was held before the Australian took over the RB seat from Dutch driver Nyck de Vries.
Ricciardo is not new to the winding streets of Monaco. The Honey Badger took the win in 2018 with an impressive drive, but he battled an MGU-K failure that led to a loss of 160bhp.
The former Red Bull driver’s first full season since his return to F1 has seen mixed results, with all the races going in favour of teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
However, the former winner of the ‘Crown Jewel’ of F1 will be pleased to be back in the car and will “take it with a smile”.
As reported by Speed Cafe, Ricciardo said:
“I go into weekends now with a fairly open mind, not with really too much expectation – certainly with some curiosity about how well we can go,” he said.
“But look, where I stand now, I didn’t drive there last year. I was a fan last year, drinking and partying and all that – not really!
“But I’m excited to be back in the cockpit. Monaco is a special place.
“Last year, watching as a fan, I never knew if I would actually get that experience again, so firstly just take it with a smile and hopefully that smile delivers some good lap times.”
Developments are improving RB
The VCARB-01’s one-lap pace has been impressive, with both drivers making it into Q3 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Faenza-based team brought a significant floor upgrade to the Japanese Grand Prix, something that was suggested would give it an increase in load.
The upgrades brought to the RB were a “positive”, claimed Ricciardo.
“It’s been really positive,” Ricciardo said.
“I think the car is definitely in a good place.
“Certainly, we have a few parts to improve, but generally, everything we put on the car has helped us.
The Australian also suggested how they were beginning to challenge the likes of Aston Martin.
“It’s getting us… Aston [Martin] is a team that we thought would be quite a long way down the road, and we seem to be more or less in that fight.
“It’s encouraging.”
RB sit sixth in the Constructors Championship, 24 points behind Aston Martin in fifth.
Free Practice 1 for the Monaco Grand Prix gets underway at 12:30 BST (13:00 local time). We will see for the first time if the RB can handle the high downforce required by the streets of the ‘billionaire’s playground’.
Featured image: Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images