F1 News

Ricciardo on whether he has F1 rivalries: “At least at the start of the season no"

29 February 2020 at 13:43
  • Bevan Youl

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo says that “at least at the start of the season” he doesn’t have any rivalries with other Formula 1 drivers unless something builds throughout the year.

F1 rivalries come as a great spectacle of the sport for fans to witness drivers going wheel-to-wheel, not just for position, but to prove a point.
 
To name a few we’ve seen the likes of Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at Red Bull, as well as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton during their time at McLaren in 2007.
 
But Ricciardo doesn’t hold any rivalries with any current drivers on the grid unless someone caused him to retire, stating an overtake after would be “sweet”.
 
“At least at the start of the season no. Unless a rivalry build through the season,” he told media including GPBlog.
 
“If someone obviously takes me out. Putting a good move on him a race later would feel a little sweeter. But, generally no.
 
“Obviously the position is more important. If it’s for the win it doesn’t matter who is leading the race, passing for a victory or a podium is going to be sweet.”
 
The Australian added that it is easy to understand which car is in front on the track but that being in “attack mode” can leave him zoned out to who it is.
 
“I’ll be honest, we know the car in front, we know the paintjob but, even if the engineer might tell me what driver it is, sometimes you don’t even know because you’re in the zone,” he added.
 
“You’re focused and all your attention on them, especially if you’ve caught the person, you just want to pass them.
 
“Sometimes you necessarily don’t even know who it is. It’s just when you’re in that attack mode it’s quite cool”