Daniel Ricciardo returns to the scene of his second Formula 1 victory of his career this weekend in Hungary, and is looking for a good points finish after failing to finish the British Grand Prix three weeks ago.
The Infiniti Red Bull Racing driver remembers fondly the race at the Hungaroring twelve months ago when the popular Australian took his second victory of the season, when, on fresher tyres, he made great overtaking manoeuvres on both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to triumph.
“Last year was a great race for me!” added the Australian. “Of the three wins last year, it was the one where I was definitely most excited during the race.
“It’s tough for me to judge but probably it was the best performance of the three, purely because of the people I passed to finish in the lead. I had tyres in better condition – excellent strategy from our guys – but Fernando and Lewis don’t let you have the places for free – I had to really work for it!”
Ricciardo admits he enjoys heading to Hungary for the Grand Prix, and insists the qualifying session on Saturday is one of the best of the season as drivers fight for grid positions at a track notoriously hard to overtake on during the race.
“The Hungarian Grand Prix has a lot going for it,” insists Ricciardo. “Personally, I love these races in the European summer when you have the high temperatures and – usually – the great weather, plus it’s the final race before the summer break and that tends to put everyone in a good mood.
“There’s usually a really good party on Sunday night and, because of the break everyone tends to stay and have fun. Budapest is a cool city, really good restaurants and bars, really nice, really loyal fans and basically a great place to have a grand prix.
“It’s a great, great track for a qualifying lap, one of the best of the year. It’s tight, twisty and bumpy, and you have to use a lot of kerb – so getting in a low fuel, new tyre lap right on the limit it’s lots and lots of fun. But, for the same reasons the race tends to be quite tight with not a lot of overtaking.”
