Ricciardo looking to impress home fans in season opener

Daniel Ricciardo is looking to improve his record at the Melbourne circuit in front of his home support next weekend.

The Australian has never officially finished in the top three at Albert Park but did make an appearance on the podium in 2014, before his car was disqualified for exceeding maximum fuel flow allowed during the race.

Ricciardo had a nightmare 2017 Australian Grand Prix, starting 15th due to a Q3 crash and subsequent gearbox penalty, and then had to retire on lap 25 with fuel cell problems.

Ricciardo told the media: “Melbourne in 2017 was a combination of my errors and misfortune, I crashed in qualifying and then we had a technical issue in the race.

“We were all putting our hands up saying “my fault” last year so 2018 is definitely time to get what we deserve in Melbourne.”

It is expected that Red Bull have potential to challenge for the title this year after strong performances in testing.

Ricciardo is looking forward to returning to the car and to racing, saying: “Getting in the RB14 for the first time was really sweet, hearing it fire up and seeing it with the new bodywork gets you excited for the year.

“The RB14 compared to the RB13 at this stage last year is a lot different.

“There is a fair bit of aerodynamic change this year.

“I can’t wait to get the season started.”