Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that he would be driving like grandma during the qualifying for the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix, as he insisted that the Shanghai International Circuit is long and boring.
The Formula One star reckons that he could read a book and gulp a can down it on the 1.17 kilometer blast that is the equivalent of 11 rugby league fields laid end-to-end.
Ricciardo admitted that it's long alright, insisting that one could drink a can of Red Bull driving down it. He said that he has heard quite a few drivers saying that it's pretty boring, adding that if they believe that it is boring in a Formula one car, then they should have tried coming there in Formula BMW, News.com.au reported.
The Australian said that he drove there as a kid, all massive afro and enthusiasm and claimed that it was the sort of straight where he would definitely have been reaching for a book, if he had had one.
He had finished on the podium in that early visit to Shanghai, foreshadowing the good fortune Ricciardo has enjoyed at the circuit in recent years. He scored his best race finish for Toro Rosso in China with a seventh-place finish from seventh on the grid in 2013.
And last year's Chinese Grand Prix marked the real start of Ricciardo's charmed 2014 season, following his disqualification in Australia and retirement in Malaysia.
Once again, Ricciardo heads to China looking to get his year back on track following rough rides in Australia and Malaysia, where he finished sixth and 10th respectively.
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The long straight counts against his Red Bull's Renault engine, while the mix of fast, sweeping corners and tight low-speed turns is set to wreak havoc on the tyres, even though cool temperatures are forecast.
Ricciardo said that turns one, two and three are all very long and technical and he doesn't think that there's any other corner like it on the calendar and added that it's very, very aggressive on the front tyres.
Ricciardo revealed that tyre wear is pretty extreme, but insisted that he would still prefer it to the scenario with a tyre that takes three laps to come in. He said that in qualifying, one drives the out-lap like ones grandma, desperately trying to not kill it before the flying lap starts.