Ricciardo: 'awesome' to start season with home race

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While every Formula 1 driver is keen to get the new season started next weekend, none are more 'stoked' than Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo gets to kick off his 2017 campaign with his home race, an event that's clearly very special to him.

"My home race is awesome in so many ways," said Ricciardo, who hails from Perth in western Australia.

"We get a pretty big greeting from everyone when we arrive at track each morning, the fans are so enthusiastic!" he explained.

"This year they have named a grandstand after me, the Ricciardo Premium Grandstand with views of turns three, four and five, which is pretty cool.

"It’s another bit of motivation for me to do well and I will of course give the fans a wave. It’s great to have such positive support. I’ve heard the tickets sold out pretty quickly for the stand.

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But being the centre of attention in Melbourne also adds to Ricciardo's already heavy workload once he touches down.

"It’s also super busy and full on, the week for me starts on Monday and doesn’t stop until Sunday night.

"It’s nice that there’s so much media attention at the start of the season. Everyone is super excited to see how I go. I try and attend as many events as I can - but I’m still there to do a job.

"I will definitely embrace the weekend, have some fun with it and try and give the fans a reason to celebrate on Sunday."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.