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No pressure from younger drivers - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo says he doesn't feel the pressure from younger drivers despite the number of teenagers coming through the ranks in F1.

Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen was promoted earlier this season and won his first race for the team at 18, while also impressing with a sensational drive in Brazil last weekend. Esteban Ocon made his debut at 19 for Manor this year, while 18-year-old F3 champion Lance Stroll will also race for Williams in 2017.

While Ricciardo - who made his debut at 20 - is now 27, the Australian says he takes the positives of having new young talent in the sport.

"I don’t feel pressure," Ricciardo said in a social media interview for the Chinese Grand Prix organisers. "The drivers are getting quite young. It’s cool to bring a lot of energy to the sport.

"The young generation is strong in all sports. I expect them to be a challenge as they improve. Its fun and it’s good to have some new drivers coming."

And Ricciardo still sees the Red Bull Junior Program as the best route for young drivers to reach F1 due to the preparation they receive.

"For me Red Bull Racing is doing the best [program]. When I joined them it's like they put everything in place for us.

"For sure, there it's a lot of pressure, but our biggest focus is going out to race and to try to win. They also help out physical training and mental stuff, some media training - there was a big picture for them. They really prepare us for the big show like this. And for me, they are doing putting more attention into it than any other team."

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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.