After spending his Summer-break in California, Daniel Ricciardo is excited to be returning back to the track for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Racing driver finished the German Grand Prix in second, behind the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS of Lewis Hamilton, to finish the first half of the 2016 Formula 1 season in third with a total of 133 points. Ricciardo pushed himself at the Hockenheimring ring to at times, forcing leader Hamilton into setting faster times himself in order to maintain the gap.
Two years ago, Ricciardo won the Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and with this in mind, he is excited to be returning to the track this weekend.
“I spent my summer holidays in the Californian sunshine,” said Ricciardo. “It was really good, I have some friends there and some close mates from home came over as well.
“We had good fun, no racing chat so we just switched off and caught up. It was especially nice to see those friends from Perth who I only see once or twice a year. Spa is cool and the track is amazing. It’s very historic, fast and flowing. I had a win there two years ago so it has always been a good track to return to for me.
“I think it’s funny how spread out the circuit at Spa is, on one side you can have sun while it rains on the other. You always get a lot of regular fans there, you see them year after year so it’s nice to see real F1 fans out there. Food wise fries and waffles seem to be the local cuisine, it’s not really race diet but it tastes pretty good.
“We are straight in to Italy after Spa. It has the best pizza place in the world, it’s ridiculous and I love it. The fans in Italy are cool too, they are crazy about racing and extremely passionate. I like the track through the park, racing there is good and there are plenty of overtaking opportunities.”
