Ricciardo eyes winning chance in Hungary

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Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo could be forgiven for eyeing a possible chance of victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. After all, he knows what it's like to stand on the top step of the podium in Budapest.

It was the scene of his second Formula 1 career race win in 2014. It was one of three victories that season after his promotion from Toro Rosso to replace Mark Webber in the senior team.

"Hungary 2014 was a cool victory," he recalled. "Of course I love winning but that was an awesome race.

"In order to win I had to pass Hamilton and Alonso, pretty much the best two - so that was cool!

“I love that track and it has always been a good one for me. I’ve had some great weekends there even before Formula 1."

Ricciardo picked up his most recent Grand Prix win just last month in Baku. He would dearly move to make it a total of six victories next weekend, going into the summer break.

“The Hungarian Grand Prix is always at the point of the season where summer is approaching," he noted. "So I’m always in a pretty good place and the car is normally getting better as well.

"It all kind of comes good by the end of July."

This year has seen new downforce and tyre regulations introduced into Formula 1. At tracks like Silverstone it's meant much faster lap times. While the Hungaroring is much tighter, the increased grip will doubtless still make a big difference to the drivers.

Ricciardo on a high after battling to fifth from the back

“We’ve got lots more grip this year so it’ll be a bit more fun," predicted Ricciardo.

"The second sector is going to be amazing. That’s one of my favourite sectors in Formula 1," he continued. "This track means elbows out for sure as there are three key places where you can overtake.

"I’ve made some good moves in turn 1 in the past. turn 2 you can go inside or outside, as both lanes work and the hairpin is fun too.

"If Sunday is hot it’ll definitely be a physically demanding race, so I can’t make the mistake again of eating too much meat on Saturday night!"

But that's not to say that Ricciardo won't find a way to indulge in Budapest's culinary delights while he's there.

"On Saturday night I normally plan a meal with a few of the guys from the team," he revealed. "That’s always a good one as it’s the end of the first half of the season.

"The atmosphere is cool so I’ll definitely been seen on the streets of Budapest," he added with a huge smile.

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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.