Ricciardo looking forward to Monaco GP: "Monaco is 100% intensity"

This weekend F1 returns to Monaco after a season of absence. On the Monte Carlo street circuit, there will finally be a race again. For Daniel Ricciardo, now driving for McLaren, it is a special race. He won the Monaco GP in 2018. In the Australian podcast In the Fast Lane, he discusses his experiences and compares Singapore with Monaco.

Ricciardo won in 2018 and was also very close in 2016. His first memory of seeing the Monaco GP on TV? "The first thing that comes to mind is the tunnel. To see Formula 1 cars drive through a tunnel was pretty weird. I thought, 'how do they do that? Where is this?' That was my first memory on TV. I love this circuit", the Australian said.

Ricciardo does see similarities between the Monaco and Singapore GP, yet there are also differences. "There is a different intensity I guess, in Singapore, there are a few more corners with a little more forgiveness. Not every corner ends with a wall in Singapore whereas in Monaco it’s pretty much every corner," said the former Red Bull driver. "Monaco is at 100% intensity; Singapore is at 90 – 95%. I think there’s definitely something more that Monaco has."

Why Ricciardo is so successful on street circuits

Indeed, the races where he has taken the most points in his career are Monaco and Singapore. Why is this? According to Ricciardo himself because of his driving style. "I think there is a different style of driving involved. Put the courage and commitment to the side … the style of driving on the street circuit, I don’t want to give the secrets away, but a different technique is applied, and I know that I do drive a street circuit with a little bit of a different style." Ricciardo will be looking to take solitary points next weekend during his first Monaco GP in a McLaren and secretly hoping for more.