Ricciardo: No more strict diets and starving drivers!

Thanks to Formula 1's new minimum weight rules, drivers should be allowed to take in more calories and grow stronger according to Daniel Ricciardo.

In a bid to ease the disadvantage suffered by taller and heavier drivers in the past, the FIA has imposed a minimum weight of 743kg this year.

However, the driver - fully suited and booted - and his seat must weigh in at a minimum of 80kg. If the driver/seat combo weighs in under that level, the team must fit the required amount of ballast inside the car's cockpit to bring it up to the 743kg minimum limit.

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The rule change should help drivers' food intake and make diets less strict, and that's a big relief for the voracious Ricciardo who is no doubt looking forward to savoring Renault's French cuisine.

"Everyone will appreciate their food a little more," rejoiced the Aussie.

"I'm not complaining, but it's just that many of us tended to starve ourselves on race weekends.

"Even in training we could not really work too hard on the strength, because we would have put on mass. This allows us to train harder, to eat more," contends the 29-year-old.

"It's not like we're going to have beer bellies or anything, we're just going to be stronger and I think that's only a good thing."

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