RICCIARDO IS IN PARADISE
MAX VERSTAPPEN may hate the pageantry around the Las Vegas Grand Prix – but Daniel Ricciardo loves that Formula 1 is getting its time in the sun.
The sport is more popular than ever thanks mainly to the success of Netflix’s Drive to Survive show, and affable Aussie Ricciardo, 34, has become a household name.
“I knew within the four walls of F1 that my personality would probably help me to be a fan favourite,” the Alphatauri driver told the Sunday Mirror with his trademark smile.
“But I never thought it would extend into pop culture or the wider world.
“That’s definitely a big thing that I gained from Netflix. It’s pretty crazy, but I do like it.”
F1 has always been popular but, until very recently, was regarded by many as a niche sport.
In the US market especially, where the sport has historically struggled to get a foothold, growth has been off the charts.
And the result is today’s race in Paradise, Nevada – not F1’s first trip to Sin City, but certainly better thought out than two botched attempts to run a race in the Caesars Palace hotel car park in the ‘80s.
In a departure from tradition, F1 is funding and promoting this race itself. Las Vegas will be, chiefs hope, the modern-day Monaco.
Not everyone likes it. Champion Verstappen, 26, felt like “a clown” while completing his off-track promo work this week.
And, perhaps fairly, he declared the whole event “99 percent show, one percent sport”.
But Ricciardo, more than anything, just loves that his profession is being taken more seriously than ever before.
He said: “Our sport is really now well respected. I used to hate that when I was younger, people would be like, ‘Oh, you race cars, you just sit and drive, that’s not a sport’.
“But now other athletes, including ones that I admire, are looking at us and going, ‘Sh**, what you guys do is pretty amazing’.
“Just the fact our sport has this love and recognition is the part that makes me the most happy.
“If it means meeting some of my idols because of it then that’s a bonus!”