'Necks will be flying off' at "awesome" Mugello - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo has joked the necks of his fellow Formula 1 drivers will be 'flying off' at Mugello this weekend due to the strain they will come under.

Ricciardo, who will be entering the final leg of F1's latest triple-header on Sunday in good form after finishing fourth and sixth in the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix respectively, has the advantage of previously racing at the circuit.

Although it was 13 years ago in a Formula Renault 2.0 event, the Renault driver knows what kind of experience he and his F1 colleagues will be in for.

"It’s a proper track," said the seven-time grand prix winner.

"I don’t think there are fans, but if there are fans, I think there’d be a few lucky people catching helmets in the grandstand!

"I think a lot of necks are going to probably fly off with all the g-forces we’re going to get around there. [They] might take some memorabilia away!"

Apart from a lengthy start-finish straight, the track is twisty in nature, leaving the 31-year-old to predict Renault may struggle as the RS20 has not fared well so far this season on downforce-heavy circuits.

"As far as set-up, there is a long old straight," assessed Ricciardo. "But then you want downforce for the rest of the track. So it’s probably going to be a step lower than Barcelona in terms of wings.

"It hasn’t been our natural strength, that sort of set-up, but I think it’s good we’re going to one of those tracks and it’s a chance to try and learn and fix maybe some weaknesses.

"The track itself is awesome, it’s amazing. I raced there back in 2007, it’s fast, it’s flowing. I’m not sure as a spectacle on Sunday what we can expect. But in qualifying, I think it’s going to be mega in these cars."

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