Australia’s only hope prepared to handle the hype

DANIEL Ricciardo is about to begin the busiest week of his grand prix year.

The hometown hero is focused on first place on Sunday evening at Albert Park, but that is still on the far horizon.

His time with Red Bull Racing this week is split into immovable 10-minute blocks until the start of official practice at noon on Friday, with commitments that run from public appearances, autograph sessions, media interviews and the official weigh-in and driver pictures.

“Starting the F1 season in Australia means there is so much hype and so much buildup,” the Red Bull racer says.

He managed plenty of downtime at home in Perth during the F1 off-season before heading to Europe for the preseason build-up including testing in Spain.

Ricciardo admits there is plenty of pressure for the AGP.

“With me being the only Australian on the grid there is extra attention, extra questioning and expectation. It’s a lot but it’s fun, it’s cool, but it does mean I usually leave ... needing 48 hours of pure serenity and quietness.”

Ricciardo has five F1 wins but his best result in Melbourne is only fourth, and last year he crashed in qualifying.

“Melbourne in 2017 was a combination of my errors and some misfortune. So 2018 is definitely time to get what we deserve in Melbourne,” he said.