Daniel Ricciardo is convinced he can send Melbourne “pretty nuts” for a second successive year, only this time there would be no bad end to the party.
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On his Red Bull debut almost a year ago, following his promotion from Toro Rosso to cover the departure of Mark Webber, Ricciardo achieved what his fellow Australian failed to do in 12 attempts – finish on the podium in front of his own fans.
Given Red Bull’s catalogue of woes in testing, with neither Ricciardo nor team-mate Sebastian Vettel expected to see the chequered flag in the season-opening race Down Under, the 25-year-old’s achievement of second place behind race winner Nico Rosberg proved remarkable.
The Aussie fans celebrated at Melbourne’s Albert Park, only for the result to be quashed hours later as Ricciardo was disqualified due to his car contravening a regulation regarding fuel-flow rate.
Twelve months on, Red Bull head into the first race on a more stable footing and in contention for a podium again, even if Mercedes start this campaign as dominantly as they ended 2014.
“We’re definitely more prepared,” said Ricciardo.
“We have a lot more confidence in the car itself, the reliability, so we’re coming into the race this weekend with a proper plan.
“It’s not like last year when it was a case of ‘let’s just put the car on the track and see what happens, and hopefully it doesn’t blow up’.
“So reliability-wise we’re better prepared. Pace-wise we’ll have to see. Mercedes haven’t slowed down, but hopefully we can be in the hunt for at least third.
“Merc are strong, we know that, but even if they run away with it, there’s still one spot left on the podium. We’re close enough to be in the hunt, along with Williams and Ferrari. So I’m ready to go.”
Assessing whether he could even win, Ricciardo added: “I know Melbourne would go pretty nuts.
“That would be pretty special. It’s something I think I’m definitely capable of.”
