Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo will celebrate his five-year Formula One anniversary at the upcoming British Grand Prix.
The Australian, who has been arguably the sport's stand-out performer this season, finished 19th for minnows HRT on his debut at Silverstone back in 2011.
Nearly 100 grands prix later, and with three victories to his name, Ricciardo spoke to Press Association Sport about his Silverstone debut and four other areas which makes the British Grand Prix one of best on the calender.
DEBUT
I was a very overwhelmed, young, curly-haired kid. I still remember the weekend pretty vividly. During the drivers' parade there were a few Australian flags, and my compatriot Mark Webber was trying to make me feel better. He said 'some of those are for you, Dan'. I replied 'don't be silly, Mark, nobody knows who I am.'
CIRCUIT
Silverstone is one of the best tracks. I have always loved it. The old and the new configuration have both been fun. It is fast, flowing, and one of the few circuits where you can really feel the fruits of downforce in a Formula One car. It is damn cool, and you can overtake, so it normally provides great racing.
FANS
They like the Aussies. sometimes. The one thing I will always associate with the British supporters is that they will be there, rain, hail, or shine. Silverstone has seen some pretty bad weather over the years, and they are still in the stands. I don't know if they are tight, and they have spent all their money on a ticket, and they're like 'I don't care, I am going and getting my money's worth', but they genuinely love it. There are so many people in tents - they really make a weekend of it - and it feels like a festival. I also signed my first breast in England. At the iconic circuits, you do get some weird stuff going on. I signed a dog in Belgium!
WEATHER
The weather sucks. It is a great track in the dry because it is so fast, but I have always loved Silverstone in the wet, too. The circuit dries very quickly, and it is very windy. During qualifying in 2014 I got caught out because the track was wet. I didn't bother going out in Q3 as I didn't think the track would improve, but with two minutes to go it was nearly dry! I was already out of the car, so that was a lesson I learnt that day.
TRADITION
It is great going to new places, and it is refreshing, but you always want your Silverstones, Spas, and Monzas, because they are great circuits, and they have massive fanbases, too. Silverstone is part of the sport's history. If every circuit we went to was a modern track, then there would be something lacking and you would lose some of the die-hard followers who have been going to Silverstone for 40 years. I am open to going to new parts of the world, but there are a core groups of tracks that have to stay, and Silverstone is one of them.
Source: PA
