(© Ben Johnston 2015)
Infiniti Red Bull Racing head to the Monaco Grand Prix next
weekend having endured another difficult race weekend last time out in Spain
where Daniel Ricciardo came home in seventh place while Daniil Kvyat finished
the event in 10th place one lap down.
As a result of the race in Barcelona, the Milton Keynes
based outfit are in fourth place in the championship on 30 points.
Ahead of the next race in Monaco, Daniel Ricciardo and
Daniil Kvyat took part in a Q&A with the team. Daniel Ricciardo was asked:So, you’re the unofficial chief cheerleader for the Monaco
circuit, what makes you like it so much?
From the driver’s point of view – and maybe teams see it differently – the best
thing about coming to Monaco is that it’s a circuit where the driver has more
influence on events. Driving a Formula One car anywhere is special – the speed,
the power and the acceleration just blows you away – but here it’s like trying
to do a lap in a supermarket, and that’s just so, so cool. I know there’s that
quote about racing at Monaco being like riding a bicycle around your bathroom –
well when I was a kid I used to love riding my little bike around inside the
house. It was more fun, there were more obstacles and a bit more danger. That
really is what this is like: You have the walls around the circuit and the
bumps on the track that make it a bit more real. The circuit has a lot of
character; you can feel that in the car. You can’t afford mistakes, your concentration
levels rocket and you tend to amaze yourself with how quickly you manage to do
everything. Just completing a lap feels like an achievement. It feels like a
challenge.
Is it all about the track?
Not at all. The Monaco Grand Prix is the real deal. There’s so much energy
surrounding it: the big boats; the big spenders; the cool people, the
Hollywoods – it’s all there. I wouldn’t say I’m massively into that stuff at
any other time of the year, but it creates a crazy atmosphere over the weekend
here and that really makes the adrenaline rocket.
You’re now a resident of Monaco – will you walk down to the
paddock and take it all in over the weekend?
I could – but I won’t. I’ll be in team kit and I reckon I’d end up stopping for
a chat every ten paces and get to work a couple of hours late. People in the
garage tend to frown on that! Maybe I could wear a disguise. Hey! Perhaps I’m
that guy with the moustache, sunglasses and baseball cap standing next to you
right now.
What’s Monaco like for the other 11 months of the year? Where do
you hang out?
You’ll be shocked to hear that there are some cool clubs and restaurants. You
can’t see it from TV but there’s a really nice place – it keeps changing it’s
name but I think it’s one of Flavio’s – underneath the entrance to the tunnel
with a really nice view out into the Mediterranean. Then there’s the bars
around Rascasse, they’re always fun – not that I’m a big hitter on the club
scene or anything. Another fairly regular place for a lot of the guys is Sass
Café. It has the advantage of being open seven nights a week and even on a
Sunday night it’s open until 3am. That can be pretty handy if you’re getting
back late from a race or team event and don’t fancy a dinner of instant
noodles…
Daniil Kvyat was asked:
It’s often said
that Monaco presents drivers with the ultimate test. Is that a fair
description? Is it a daunting prospect for a racer?
It’s a real ‘confidence’
circuit. You need to be in tune with it. You need to find yourself, find the
flow, you need to find the right approach mentally and with the car and then
you just have to make it happen.
In the beginning it’s a big
test. To go out and find that confidence is not easy and you always question
yourself, asking ‘when is it going to happen, when am I going to feel it enough
to really go for it’. But at some point in the weekend it just happens, you
find the rhythm and the lap time comes. When it works like that, when you get
yourself in the right place and you find a good understanding with the track,
it’s great.
It’s a
circuit you’ve only ever raced in Formula One. Are you still discovering new
things about it?
Yes, definitely. I did pretty well in qualifying last year (9th) but I only did
a handful of laps in the race because I had a problem with the car, so I would
yes. I’m not sure there’s a special secret about it and there’s no one area
that holds the key. It’s just a really massive lap, the whole thing seems to go
by in one breath. It’s just as well it’s a short lap!
What about
the sense of history in Monaco and the crazy atmosphere on the streets? Do you
find yourself getting caught up in those things or do they get in the way?
In terms of the atmosphere and so on, I’ll be perfectly honest and say that,
for me, it’s not the best. It’s really confined and there’s not much chance to
get some space for yourself. It is totally unique and it is an amazing place
but for me the trick is to try to remove myself from that and focus on what
we’re there to do.
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