Daniel Ricciardo ESTEBAN OCON
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TUSCAN GP MUGELLO RACE 09 DANIEL RICCIARDO RACE DRIVER #3 It was a solid sixth place for Daniel Ricciardo in Monza as he targets more this weekend in Tuscany at the fast and flowing Mugello. Q&A What do you know about Mugello? What’s the feeling after Monza? I’m really excited to drive a modern Formula 1 car at Mugello. It’s one of those races where you’re happy with the result, but I’ve been there in 2007 for Formula Renault and in 2012 for also left thinking if there could have been more. I think we did well an F1 test. It’s so fast and flowing, it has a nice rhythm and it’s to leave with points. We raced well, made good overtakes, held going to be a lot of hard work at the wheel. I think all our necks a good position early on until the safety car and red flag meant are going to want to fly off because of the changes of direction everything was shook up a bit. We scored well in Belgium, the and medium to high speed corners! It’s going to be same in Monza, so it would be great to keep up the trend with pretty awesome. more this weekend in Mugello. Where will be the best place for overtaking? For racing, it’s difficult to know where it’ll be good to overtake in these current cars. I’d say Turn 1 is going to be the best place, but I think we’re going to be braking late and deep into there as it’s quite a long corner. It’s going to be hard to send it from far, but that will be the challenge. The last corner is long and quick and hopefully there will be a few lines we can take to get closer to another car. I do think qualifying will be crazy there and a lot of fun. We scored well in Belgium, the same in Monza, so it would be great to keep up the trend with more this weekend in Mugello. Daniel Ricciardo ESTEBAN OCON RACE DRIVER #31 Esteban Ocon drove strongly to climb his way from twelfth on the grid to eighth in Monza. Now it’s time to switch virtual Mugello laps on his home simulator to real ones as he gets ready for the Tuscan Grand Prix. Q&A Is Mugello new to you? How do you evaluate the Italian race? Mugello looks like a fantastic track for pure pace. I don’t have I’m pleased we continued our points scoring run during any experience racing there as I’ve not driven it for real. From this triple header. Of course, as a driver, you always want what I’ve seen on my home simulator it looks a massive more, and we’ll be continuing to work to make sure we’re challenge for the car, the driver and especially the tyres, well prepared for this weekend. I’m happy with how the race which will be critical to manage throughout. I’ve driven a lot went, we made overtakes, we showed solid pace, so we’ll of laps there on the simulator and it has a nice combination push for better for this next one. of corners, some quick ones, which will be mega impressive in the current cars. I think it will be medium to high downforce with a lot tyre degradation. We’ll have a sore neck, so that’s something to keep in mind during the preparation. Have you watched other racing series there? I’ve watched MotoGP on TV and I think it’s their top speed of the year, which is impressive. For them, every corner is a challenge, but for us, I think some of the corners where MotoGP is high-speed and having to manage, F1 should be flat out, so it will be quite cool to see. Qualifying is going to be very fast and exciting. F1 should be flat out, so it will be quite cool to see. Qualifying is going to be very fast and exciting. Esteban Ocon LEARNING THE CURVES CIARON PILBEAM, CHIEF RACE ENGINEER , RENAULT DP WORLD F1 TEAM The team picked up 12 points from last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix as Formula 1 moves to the hills of Tuscany and the twists, turns and curves of Mugello. Chief Race Engineer Ciaron Pilbeam outlines how the team is gearing up for this weekend’s race. Q&A How does the team reflect on the Italian Grand Prix? How will the team prepare for learning a new circuit? Monza was a very unusual race, particularly with the closure of the pit entry during Our priorities for the first part of the weekend will be to give the drivers time to the first safety car. Some drivers did well out of it, others didn’t. We did not benefit get up to speed on the new circuit, to dial in the setup as we learn the details of particularly, but we also didn’t lose out greatly, and having started seventh and the track, and to understand the behaviour of the tyres. We have the three hardest twelfth on the grid, to finish sixth and eighth is not bad. It’s good points for compounds as this circuit is likely to be quite severe. It’s the first of several circuits the Championship. that we have not been to for a few years, so it’s an interesting new challenge. What do we know about Mugello? Mugello is effectively a new circuit for us. Some teams used to test there several years ago, but the cars are very different now and there won’t be much from previous running that is very relevant to this weekend. The circuit has mainly medium and high-speed corners, some very fast, but also a long straight, so the choice of downforce level will be a compromise between the two. The best overtaking opportunity will be at Turn 1, as the straight is so long, although that corner is not very slow, so it won’t necessarily be easy. TYRE CHOICES WHITE HARD (C1) YELLOW MEDIUM (C2) RED SOFT (C3) DANIEL 2 3 8 ESTEBAN 2 3 8 TUSCAN GP PREVIEW LUNDGAARD SCORES DOUBLE PODIUM, WHILE ZHOU ENJOYS SUPERB OVERTAKING DISPLAY “It was a tough one and an unlucky weekend in Monza. In Renault Sport Academy Drivers Christian Lundgaard and Guanyu Zhou claimed solid qualifying, I had a red flag while I was improving my lap, which was maybe in the top three. In Race 1, I started P17 and finished P5. I points in Monza in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, as their attention turns to Mugello this enjoyed that race with lots of overtakes! We were looking good for weekend. Race 2; I was climbing up the field until the problem. I was looking strong and I was one of the quickest cars on track before the issue. Bad luck keeps happening with these technical problems, which is Christian claimed two podiums after finishing third in the Feature Race and second in the not ideal. The championship is so tight, and I’ve already lost lots of Sprint Race, to add 27 points to his championship tally. Zhou climbed 12 places from 17th points. Mugello is new for all Formula 2 teams. I’ve been there in on the grid to fifth in the Feature Race before an issue with his car meant he did not finish in Formula 3. It will be fun, and we have a good chance to score big the Sprint. points.” GUANYU ZHOU Both drivers head to Mugello this weekend with the top six championship fight extremely tight. “It was a good weekend in Monza, especially coming back from two race weeks in a row without scoring many points. In the end, we finished second in the Sprint Race, which is 27 points for the weekend, and, in the championship, I’ve caught up a bit. Mugello this week and I’ve never been there, so it’s going to be an interesting weekend. The team hasn’t there for a long time either, so it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it and we have good momentum, I believe.” CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD TUSCAN GP PREVIEW PIASTRI INTO CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD AS SERIES HEADS TO MUGELLO FOR SEASON FINALE “It was a real rollercoaster of a weekend at Monza. Qualifying was Renault Sport Academy Driver Oscar Piastri retook the FIA Formula 3 Championship lead a traffic jam, so I couldn’t set a representative lap, and was then given a three-place grid penalty, meaning I started P15. Race after a superb Race 1 effort where the Australian finished third after starting fifteenth. 1 was incredible, I managed to make up 12 places to finish P3. Race 2 was looking very strong, but unfortunately, I was taken out That put Oscar back into the championship lead going into this weekend’s final round in while battling for the podium. I’m heading into Mugello with the championship lead, so hopefully I can claim the title. It’s a new Mugello. Oscar retired from Race 2 after a collision at Turn 1 and takes an eight point lead track for most people on the grid, myself included, but I’m looking into the final round. forward to getting on track - it looks like an awesome circuit.” OSCAR PIASTRI EUROCUP BACK IN THE SWING AS COLLET BREAKS RECORD AND DAVID BACK IN THE POINTS “I think this weekend, we had pretty good pace overall.