Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsRed Bull Racing

Ricciardo looking forward to a spicy challenge in China

Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo might delight in the appeal and the attractions of Shanghai as a city, but he's certainly not underestimating the challenge that awaits him and the team at the 3.388-mile, 16-turn circuit designed by Hermann Tilke.

"The straight at the Shanghai International Circuit is super long which makes it pretty different compared to other tracks," Ricciardo explained.

"Coming off that straight, you then have to brake for one of the tightest corners on the calendar – you go from one of the highest speeds to the lowest.

"Turns 1, 2 and 3 are like one big corner, really long and uphill, and this makes it really tough on the front left tyre, it’s one of the toughest circuits for that which can be interesting."

The first Chinese Grand Prix was first staged in 2004 and won by Rubens Barrichello for Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton has won here on four occasions including the last two years back-to-back.

By contrast, Red Bull has only been on the top step of the podium once, in 2009, with Sebastian Vettel claiming the honours.

With the circuit itself located in the suburban district of Jiading, it's quite a long commute for the teams and drivers to get to which leaves Ricciardo with less time than he would like to savour the highlights.

"As a city, Shanghai is cool, but it’s hard for us to get to because the track is quite far away and the traffic can be pretty bad," agreed the 26-year-old, now in his sixth season in Formula One.

"We usually get one night to go into the city to eat out and get a view of the skyline.

"I remember one year I was at a traditional Chinese restaurant with my mechanics and everything had spice in it, and I love my spice. The pork ribs were amazing!

"But then you would get something simple like soup or vegetables and it’s covered in chilli so you really need to like your spicy food to enjoy the local cuisine."

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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.