- Daniel Ricciardo must be focused on performing
- The great Australian motor racer David Brabham will have results online
- Brabham fears Ricciardo will struggle to remain relevant in F1
- The Australian F1 Grand Prix will be held from Sunday at 3 p.m
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Australian motor racing great David Brabham has urged Daniel Ricciardo to ‘shut out the world’ so he can give himself every opportunity to silence the doubters in Sunday’s Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park.
Ricciardo, 34, is one of the most popular identities in the sport, but Brabham wants to see results from the Perth-born driver on the grid – starting in Melbourne.
It follows two poor recent showings in Bahrain (13th) and Saudi Arabia (16th), with Ricciardo’s career potentially on the line.
“(As it stands) he may not have enough mojo to perform at the level Red Bull would be happy with,” said Brabham, who famously won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans race. A wide world of sports.
‘He’s not there to play second fiddle to (teammate Yuki) Tsunoda, so the pressure will undoubtedly be on him already.
Australian motor racing great David Brabham has urged Daniel Ricciardo to ‘shut out the world’ so he can excel in Sunday’s Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park
Ricciardo, 34, is one of the most popular identities in the sport but Brabham wants to see results from the Perth-born driver on the grid
Ricciardo finished 12th in second practice (pictured) on Friday afternoon – and is aiming for a top 10 finish in the main race on Sunday
‘Tsunoda surpasses him. ‘He (Ricciardo) has to dig deep and maybe even away from the wildcard role he has.’
Brabham added that he is aware that Ricciardo is ‘extremely popular and likable’ but would like to see him ‘shut out the world and focus on performing’ for his own sake.
Ricciardo finished 12th in the second practice on Friday afternoon.
And if Ricciardo feels the pressure, he doesn’t show it.
“I think some people on the outside are saying, ‘Oh, is it panic mode? Or is it crisis mode?, said the home-grown star.
‘I’m always excited. I know we probably won’t win this weekend, but maybe we can be in the top 10 and get a small bag of points.’
There will be one more practice session for the F1 superstars on Saturday from 12.30pm AEDT, before qualifying begins at 4 p.m.
The main race is at 15:00 local time on Sunday.