2020 Formula 1 thread

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...says-ricciardo

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo expects "driver egos" to come to the fore when Formula 1 racing resumes in Austria next month.

The Australian, who has the advantage of having conducted a test day at the Red Bull Ring with a two-year-old car this week, says the drivers will all be trying to show who has returned in the best form at the opener in Austria on 5 July.

Although the test was a useful boost Ricciardo, he expects rivals who have not had the chance to drive during the break to catch up by race day.

"We're going to get plenty of practice, so the race weekend will go as normal," he said in an F1 podcast. "We're going to get plenty of seat time before race day.

"But the lights are going to go out and for sure we're all going to be showing everyone, 'I trained harder in my quarantine,' or 'I'm less rusty than you are.' I'm sure some driver egos will get in the way.

"Or everyone will be really cautious, 'this feels foreign!' I think it's going to be pretty exciting. We don't really know how many races we're going to get this year, so you're probably going to get the mentality of let's make this one count."

Ricciardo, who announced his move to McLaren for 2021 during the delays to the current season, says the test with the RS18 was useful, especially in terms of getting his body used to driving after a break of over three months.