Ricciardo aiming for repeat of 2017 Barcelona podium

Daniel Ricciardo is clearly a fan of the Spanish Grand Prix and has hailed this period as "always an exciting time of the year", whilst also assuring Red Bull fans he is hoping for a repeat of his performance last year in which he claimed his first podium of the campaign.

Ricciardo has endured a season of ups and downs so far, as he put in a superb performance to win the Chinese Grand Prix a month ago, only to be forced into retirement in the last Grand Prix in Azerbaijan two weeks ago after getting into a collision with his team-mate, Max Verstappen, during the race in Baku.

Barcelona marks the start of the European tour in F1, and the Australian could not hide his excitement at the start of summer racing.

“Barcelona is always an exciting time of the year, it’s the start of the European season, the time where you see lots of car development and in a way the start of summer which I love,” said Ricciardo.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the location of pre-season testing and so the drivers know the track very well, but Ricciardo says this does not mean the race won't be full of surprises.

“The Barcelona circuit is fun, we’ve done a lot of laps around there and we know it very well, nonetheless it’s certainly not boring and we always enjoy going back. The race is kind of a staple in the F1 calendar now," he continued.

“The track has a bit of everything, Turns 1, 2 and 3 are nice flowing corners and the last section is very technical.”

The Spanish GP has proved to be a fruitful stomping ground for Ricciardo in the past, as he reached the podium last year and even claimed the first podium of his career there back in 2014, and he is targeting similar success this weekend.

“Last year I got my first podium of the season there which was cool, so we will try and go for the same or better this year,” he assured.