(©Ben Johnston 2014)
Infiniti Red Bull Racing head to next weekend's Monaco Grand Prix following an extremely strong result for the Milton Keynes based outfit as Daniel Ricciardo collected his first ever Formula One podium on his way to third place at last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona Crcuit de Catalunya. Speaking ahead of the race Ricciardo said:
'“In Monte Carlo it’s impossible to do that calm, detached racing driver thing. Every year I’m determined I’m going to approach the weekend in a coldly logical way, and every year I end up bouncing up and down and getting excited. It’s just amazing. The atmosphere in town and down at the harbour, the history of the race, the massive crowd, it’s a real buzz. The track is properly old-school. Driving an F1 car anywhere is special – the speed, the power and the acceleration just blows you away – but here it’s... 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. Experience definitely helps: the driver can make a big difference if he knows the tricks that a fast lap demands.'
Sebastian Vettel had an extremely strong result in Spain as the German started the race from 15th place on the grid and went on to finish the race in fourth place just behind Ricciardo. Vettel heads to Monte Carlo just six points ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
Red Bull Racing have really struggled in the opening Grand Prix of the season and the Spanish Grand Prix last weekend was a real changing point in their season as the team scored 27 points, which to date was the most amount of points that the team have scored in a single Grand Prix this season.
Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel now have a podium each as Vettel finished third in Malaysia and Ricciardo finished the Spanish Grand Prix in third place. The team now head to Monaco, where last season the team scored a double podium with Sebastian Vettel finishing the race in second place with Mark Webber third behind race winner Nico Rosberg. The Milton Keynes based out-fit will be looking for a similar result next weekend.
Speaking ahead of round six, Vettel said:
'Monaco is one of my favourite tracks, it's an absolute challenge. You cannot afford to make one single mistake, because you would easily crash into the railings. Overtaking is only possible with taking an extreme risk. The best place to overtake is before the harbour chicane when we exit the narrow tunnel at 300kph and race towards the first gear chicane. Other than that, it’s all about patience in Monaco and hoping for complete reliability as the suspension and drive are massively in demand around this extreme, uneven rollercoaster of a circuit – it’s immense. In the perfect situation, you would have had a good quali and start from the front. Monaco offers some really great memories with the team, especially when everyone ended up jumping in the pool and one year Mark and I even ended up in the harbour. It’s very special in Monaco and it’s the race where we have our Energy Station with its larger outside area floating in the harbour, it’s a great, great event.'
©Ben Johnston 2014
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