Daniel Ricciardo is looking for a clean weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend as he bids for only his second top ten result of the season.
The Renault F1 Team racer has endured a tough start to his career with the Enstone-based squad following his winter move across from Red Bull Racing, with only six points from his seventh place finish in the Chinese Grand Prix the only time the Australian has seen the chequered flag so far in 2019.
Ricciardo, who twice finished on the podium in the Spanish Grand Prix during his time with Red Bull, is looking forward to the fifth round of the 2019 season, but he knows a clean weekend is imperative if he is to score points.
“The Spanish Grand Prix is always an exciting time of the year as it’s the first European round of the season,” said Ricciardo. “Barcelona is a fun circuit, we all know it very well from all the winter and in-season testing.
“It’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed racing at in my career: I won there in Formula Renault 3.5 and in recent years have been on the podium. We’ll be targeting a clean weekend right from the off on Friday and hopefully come away with some points in the bag.”
Ricciardo knows he will drop three places on the grid due to a penalty carried over from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, handed to him after he reversed into Daniil Kvyat after both went off the track at turn two as they battled for position. The Australian engaged reverse but did not take the time to look behind him, and as a result did not see Kvyat’s Scuderia Toro Rosso.
“I feel bad for the team about what happened in Baku, especially as we were starting to hit a nice rhythm in the race,” said the Australian. “We’ll take the positives from it, move on and go again in Barcelona.
“Unfortunately, the three-place grid penalty isn’t ideal, but it’s one I’ll accept for my error and I’ll deal with it as best as I can in Spain. Maybe it’s time to crack out some of the overtaking moves!”
