2011 British GP: Daniel Ricciardo in practice

Daniel Ricciardo has just finished his first proper day in an F1 hot seat. No longer performing a testing role, but gathering data for his race debut on Sunday. In the two free practice sessions, both marred by inclement weather, the young Aussie soon found out life will be tough in a team with comparatively low funding.

In Free Practice 1 Ricciardo finished 24th out of 24 runners, 1.2 seconds behind teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi. The 22-year-old improved his standing in Free Practice 2, placing 23rd, 0.2s ahead of Liuzzi.

Speaking afterwards Ricciardo said, “I’m a bit more familiar with the controls now in the Hispania Racing car and hopefully the weather tomorrow is a bit drier and we can then do some proper testing in order to be ready for qualifying.

“It’s another race car so I’m always trying to learn and find the best compromise for it and the best way around the race track so I think today was not a bad day for that. I think I’m learning ok, quite quickly and as long as I keep progressing I think it will be a good weekend and a good 2011.”

After the break you’ll see 30+ pics of Ricciardo’s first couple of days with HRT, along with slightly odd YouTube clip and official press releases.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zj-HQ8GgF4

Practice Sessions 1 & 2 at the British Grand Prix

2011-07-08

Silverstone, 8th of July of 2011

09.00-10.30 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 1
Daniel Ricciardo F111-03 #22 24th (24 laps) 1:54.334
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 22nd (20 laps) 1:53.134
Maximum temperature: Air 15ºC, Track 16ºC – Intermittent rain

13.00-14.30 FORMULA 1 PRACTICE SESSION 2
Daniel Ricciardo F111-03 #22 23rd (10 laps) 1:55.828
Vitantonio Liuzzi F111-02 #23 24th (6 laps) 1:56.037
Maximum temperature: Air 18ºC, Track 20ºC – Rainy

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal: “It was an English day with a lot of rain for everybody so I don’t think that anyone could get any valuable data so we have to hope for tomorrow. We tried to give some more laps to Daniel so that he could get used to the car”.

“The results today are completely irrelevant; it has to be dry to know what will happen. I cannot make a prediction at the moment about all the changes, in terms of regulations and clarifications”.

“I think Daniel has done a very good job with the few laps he has done. In the second practice he was faster than Tonio even though this is not representative but he did a good job, he didn’t spin, he just built up lap by lap, this was very professional”.

Daniel Ricciardo, Driver #22: “My first day at my new job is completed, it’s good to get the first day over with, I’m happy with that. It was a bit of a shame with the weather, I think it could have been a bit nicer to me and the rest of the drivers but at least we did some laps. So I’m a bit more familiar with the controls now in the Hispania Racing car and hopefully the weather tomorrow is a bit drier and we can then do some proper testing in order to be ready for qualifying”.

“It’s another race car so I’m always trying to learn and find the best compromise for it and the best way around the race track so I think today was not a bad day for that. I think I’m learning ok, quite quickly and as long as I keep progressing I think it will be a good weekend and a good 2011”.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Driver #23: “Today was a difficult day because of the weather conditions that didn’t allow us to test much of what we wanted to test. It was difficult to understand everything because the track was changing every ten minutes. In the morning it was ok; we had a few runs on intermediate tyres and were evaluating some new steps and got some good answers but the problem was that the conditions on the track were different all the time”.

“In the afternoon we just did a few laps to scrap a set of intermediate’s for tomorrow so we can’t say much about the afternoon run; it was just six laps in total and we didn’t want to run it either. The morning was decent but tomorrow should be dry so that will be the beginning of this British Grand Prix”.

 

British Grand Prix Preview

2011-07-06

8th-10th July
Silverstone, 52 laps, 5.891km

The legendary British Grand Prix will provide the setting for the ninth race of the season. Silverstone is an integral part of the history of this sport as the first ever race in Formula 1 took place at the British circuit back in 1950. Today it is a very fast, flowing circuit with quick, sweeping bends at the start and a slow complex of corners at the end of the lap. The track is made up of 18 corners (8 left, 10 right) and the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel complex stands out as one of the most demanding and technical set of turns of any circuit.

Pirelli have chosen their hard compounds as prime tyres, to cope with the constant high speeds achieved at the track, and their soft tyres as options.

Colin Kolles, Hispania Racing Team Principal: “First of all, I am very proud and happy to conclude the deal with Red Bull Racing and to welcome Daniel to our team. He is one of the greatest talents in motorsport and we hope to give him a lot of mileage in order to prepare him for the future”.

“Silverstone is one of the classics; it is a circuit where you need a very efficient car and where downforce is crucial. We hope to have a reasonable weekend in terms of performance, even though we are lacking a lot of downforce.”

Daniel Ricciardo, Driver #22: “I’m very happy to have my first Formula 1 race coming up in Silverstone. It means a lot to me. I’m sure, as many of us here, we dream it as kids but don’t really believe that one day it will actually happen! It will be a very special moment for me, perhaps a little emotional too”.

“I am very happy with the deal. I didn’t think I would be racing an F1 car this season so for Red Bull to have found me a seat is awesome and I’m grateful to have this opportunity and the support from both teams. Hopefully it won’t take me too long to adapt to the car, in the past I think I’ve adapted well to new environments and cars so I’m confident that by the end of the weekend I will have made strong progress from the start”.

“My aim is to finish as many races as I can and get the experience under my belt. I think this is most important for me as a young driver, experience is priceless. Of course, I would also love to bring the car and the team further up the grid and have some successful races. For the Silverstone weekend I think my first aim is to finish, physically and mentally this will be a good reward and all part of the learning process”.

“I’ve been following Hispania’s progress this year but it’s hard to really know how a team is going unless you are involved and know the inside and outs. But I am sure they have improved since their debut season last year and this improvement seems like it’s going in the right direction. I think they are doing as well as they could be. I don’t recall any team coming into F1 and proving to be dominant immediately, it takes time. I’ve met Tonio a few times and I think I can learn a lot from him as he is very experienced in F1, he’s a cool guy. I’ve never met so Narain so I can’t say much about him but I’m sure he’s a cool guy too”.

“As for Britain, I love London, I think it’s one of the best cities in the world, there is so much to do, so many cultures and great places to go. I love the circuit because of the high speed nature. I love high speed corners and at Silverstone they all flow very well and you can pick up a great rhythm. The Maggots-Becketts section is my favourite”.

“I had probably my best ever race on this circuit back in June 2008. I was racing Formula Renault Eurocup and I won the race on the last lap with a few corners to go. We were far from the quickest all weekend but pulled something out of the bag in the last race and it was a big underdog performance”.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Driver #23: “The passion for motorsport in Britain is huge and really impressive. Last year, after an issue in qualifying, we went from last position to 11th place after a strong race at a track where usually it is not easy to overtake, so that’s a great memory of this race”.

“Silverstone is a great technical circuit that gives a lot of adrenaline to the drivers; I love the first sector which is made up of high speed corners. You really sense something special when racing here because the passion and heart of the British crowd is huge”.

“It will be a difficult race because of the nature of the circuit but we’re progressing with every race and that is important”.