Ricciardo thinks about fan interest while racing

  • Published on 25 Jun 2019 09:24
  • comments 4
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Daniel Ricciardo says he sometimes admits to himself in the cockpit during Formula 1 races that the Grand Prix is not exciting for fans.

Last time out in France, Mercedes took its eighth victory of the season, and its sixth one-two finish.

The lack of on-track action wasn't received well by the fans, with Ricciardo stating that he "for sure" understands if people turn off their TVs and lose interest.

"To be honest, if I'm by myself and I can see big gaps across the field in front of me, in my mirrors, sometimes I'm also thinking 'this isn't probably that exciting for people watching'," the Renault driver said.

"As a racer, I would love for everything to be equal, so all us 20 drivers could be fighting to see who the best is.

"Some tracks, some drivers would be better and you would see a mix as the top guy wouldn't always be winning, it would be close.

"I know there was a big meeting to continue discussing things for 2021, so hopefully. At the moment it's a bit easy for Mercedes, but I don't want to criticise them.

"They're the ones doing the job, it's up to everyone else to catch up. But it's easy to be frustrated without the car."

Ricciardo 'had fun' on the last lap of the French GP

Ricciardo crossed the finish line at the French Grand Prix in seventh place, but was demoted back to 11th following two five-second time penalties for incidents involving Lando Norris and Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap.

However, the Australian says that it was better to go attacking rather than just sit back and be happy with the result in hand. 

"When the track is so wide, you got to improvise a little," he said. "It was fun on the last lap. It's to have a fight than just sit behind and be a loser. I enjoyed it.

"Everytime I was going into brake late, I was just pulling it off. But it is improving. I'm getting more confidence compared to the start of the year from it."

And of course it's no fault of the drivers. But that race in France sucked

  • 2
  • Jun 25 2019 - 11:13

Replies (4)

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  • JuJuHound

    Posts: 352

    French GP was probably the most boring race of this season, I really struggled to watch till the end. But I think the broadcast missed some good action. We haven't see a lot from the battle between Russell & Kubica, we haven't see live action of Norris and Riccardo. I don't want to blame guys from TV much but when race like this happen they need to work harder to find any battle on track immediately.

    • + 0
    • Jun 25 2019 - 10:57
    • I agree, and even then they did a good thing by having the cams following the midfield most of the time.

      • + 0
      • Jun 25 2019 - 21:27
  • And of course it's no fault of the drivers. But that race in France sucked

    • + 2
    • Jun 25 2019 - 11:13
    • On the bright side I got a lot of stuff done in the meantime. Watered my plants, did the laundry, dished the dishes.

      • + 0
      • Jun 26 2019 - 05:16

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Driver profile

  • Country Australia
  • Date of b. Jul 1 1989 (33)
  • Place of b. Perth, Australia
  • Weight 64 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
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