Ricciardo returns to Melbourne
The Australian Grand Prix represents the home weekend for two drivers involved in F1: on one side there is Oscar Piastri, at the wheel of McLaren, while on the other there is the more experienced Daniel Ricciardo, who returned to Albert Park after his absence last season. In 2023, after the conclusion of the relationship with McLaren, Ricciardo became Red Bull's third driver at the start of the championship, only to then replace Nyck De Vries in AlphaTauri from the eleventh round on the calendar (then missing another 5 GPs due to injury).
Q3 not far away
Reconfirmed as an official driver by the Faenza team, now known as Racing Bulls, the 34-year-old carried out the first two free practice sessions in Melbourne, but did not go beyond the eleventh position obtained in PL1: “I drove here in 2022 when they had just made the changes to the track – commented – it's much faster than before, and that's a good thing. I think that as a team we started the morning on the right foot, and I think that in the afternoon the others found something more. I think that we can reach Q3 tomorrow. There are lots of curves in which, since it is still a street circuit, it is possible put the car to the limit. I think the conditions and grip level were pretty good and it was fun to deal with. There will be some work to do this evening, but nothing excessive. As always, I think there is a bit of fine-tuning to the car, which should give us a good chance for tomorrow. In terms of race pace, with the little long run we did, everything seems good. Let's try to qualify among the top 10 and from then on everything will be easier.”
Tsunoda believes it too
Ricciardo's objective is therefore to be able to reach the third and final qualifying session for tomorrow, the decisive one to establish the top ten positions on the starting grid. A goal that he also thinks he will reach Yuki Tsunodaalso due to the results obtained on the Australian Friday, with the 5th time in FP1 and 10th in the following session: “As a first day, we are in good shape compared to the last two races – he added – the team has done a fantastic job in terms of preparation, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Obviously, as we know, the field is very narrow in qualifying, so we will fine-tune the little details and I know these things will come and we will be able to put everything together tomorrow. Now it's about preparing as hard as I can tonight, I'll push as much as I can and I hope to get to Q3!“
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