Renault F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has confessed that he won’t be joining his contemporaries in the Virtual GPs. Quite a few F1 drivers, like Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and others, have taken up sim racing.
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However, the 30-year-old prefers. to burn some muscles in the gym instead of virtually tearing up tracks. During the global shut down, Ricciardo is living on his family farm in Western Australia. Recently, The New Daily spoke to him about the possibility of joining former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen on the virtual grid.
The Renault driver replied, “Slim, I’d say. He’s all about the sim stuff. I wanna say he’s spending more than 50 per cent of his waking day on one. So yeah, I’m not there [against Max].
“I just know with my competitive nature, if I got one, I’m going to be spending hours on it a day. And before you know, I’m missing training sessions, racing these sims and I feel that the training is more productive.”
What is Daniel Ricciardo doing if he is not racing in the simulator?
Fortunately for the Australian, he has the luxury of plenty of outdoor space to exercise with his trainer Michael Italiano. He noted that since it is just the two of them, they have time to set up a proper program.
Daniel Ricciardo even admitted that he prefers training alone, running alone and having his own space. The 30-year old also listens to music and uses it to ‘get in the zone’.
“I’m missing the racing and I’ve got that bug in me that I just want to go again, so I’m staying ready and, and that’s kind of my driving purpose.
“But otherwise, I think I’m quite lucky to be on the farm … I’m not locked in an apartment just with only really my phone or the internet as an escape.”