Ricciardo to gym: 'Others drinking cocktails or taking penis enlargement'

AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo has completed his first two races with the Italian team. He is a real Formula 1 driver again. While the Australian managed to impress in Hungary, he struggled at the Belgian Grand Prix.

In the sprint race, Ricciardo still finished handsomely in tenth place, just outside the points. In the main race, the good-humoured driver got no further than P16, after a difficult race. It was the after-effects of a difficult qualifying session, in which he saw his fastest lap taken away due to track limits. The eight-time race winner is happy to have his first races behind him.

"When I got the call up in my head, I was like, oh, okay I thought we'd probably just wait for the summer break. But I'm actually really glad I got these two before the break because it gives me something to certainly think about, build on, throw some questions back to the team. So I feel like we're gonna get to Zandvoort being much better prepared than if Zandvoort was my first race, you know."

Ricciardo will also work on his fitness. From December 2022 to July 2023, the Australian had not ridden a Grand Prix. "I think personally, you know for me my obviously I know where my fitness is at so I can work during the off-season, no, the summer break down on the offseason summer break whilst everyone's sipping pina coladas or penis enlargers, whatever you want to call them. I'll be a bit more in the gym and much less alcohol than everyone else."