Daniel Ricciardo is excited to visit one of his “absolute favourite” events of the year, the United States Grand Prix, and push through the season’s final races of McLaren F1 Team’s battle for fourth in the constructor’s championship.
He said that the setting in Austin allows him to bring another level of energy and enthusiasm, and that he looks forward to running at Circuit of the Americas.
“Austin let’s go! The US GP is one of my absolute favourite races of the year. The extra energy I get from the atmosphere is immeasurable and I love everything about it. From the crowd to the food and music, it’s like nothing else. I can’t wait to get on track.
McLaren’s closest rival, BWT Alpine F1 Team, has the upper hand as of the Japanese Grand Prix, scoring eighteen points to McLaren’s one at Suzuka International Racing Course. As a result, Alpine is in fourth place with 143 points to McLaren’s 130.
Ricciardo said that he will look to draw as much performance as possible in order to keep McLaren in the running for the divisive position.
“I’m looking forward to the last four races of the season and trying everything to maximise the results to keep us in the fight for fourth in the championship.”
“I’ve had a points finish both times I’ve raced there so hopefully we can keep up the streak” – Lando Norris
Team-mate Lando Norris also looks forward to being in Austin, with its “brilliant” fans and a track he enjoys running on. The British driver is particularly interested in seeing how the 2022 cars behave around Circuit of the Americas, a track that shares some features with Suzuka.
“I’m buzzing to be back in Austin, it’s such a great city to race in and the fans are always brilliant so it should be an exciting weekend.”
“The track is a fun one, with some cool features similar to tracks such as Suzuka so I’m looking forward to getting out there and seeing how the new regulation cars run.
Norris has scored points at both of his visits to Austin so far, having finished in seventh place there in 2019 and eighth in 2021– he will vie to continue this trend this year, with every point key in the close mid-field battle with Alpine.
“I’ve had a points finish both times I’ve raced there so hopefully we can keep up the streak and get some valuable points for the Constructors’ Championship.”
