Ricciardo has this problem at McLaren too: 'I'm definitely on the limit'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
In preparation for his new adventure at McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo has already been through a series of seat fittings in the MCL35M. This turned out to be a bit of a mess at the start, as his hips were wider than his engineers had estimated.
"I do have wide hips - I guess. I'm pretty thick boned," Ricciardo explained in a press conference attended by GPblog. "But I got in, so it was kind of the first mock up of the seat. And with the dimensions that they had, they kind of assumed what would be okay for me. But it wasn't quite okay."
Despite the initial problems, Ricciardo now has a seat that he does fit into. "Fortunately, it was just the seat and it wasn't the actual keel itself that is too narrow. Since then I have been able to get in a seat and I do fit. Yeah, I feel like I'm certainly the limit.”
As compact as possible
Ricciardo explains that, in the pursuit of optimal aerodynamics, teams design the chassis to be as compact as possible. As a result, the Australian has often had problems with his wider hips, as Red Bull had to constantly take this into account as well. "I think the way they design the cars and the chassis now, everything's trying to be as tight and compact as possible. So really my hips are sometimes the limiting factor." Ricciardo said.
However, Ricciardo also immediately comes up with the solution to the lost aerodynamics as a result of the widened seat: "So, I just tell them 'just make sure I'm comfortable, and if you think that loses you a tenth of aerodynamics, then I'll just drive faster on track!’"