Ricciardo: New weight rules won't lead to 'beer bellies'

Matthew Scott

Tuesday 29 January 2019 12:50

Daniel Ricciardo has backed new rules which are set to be introduced which will see cars and drivers weighed separately in order to match the necessary requirements to perform on the track, but joked that drivers won't exactly be turning up with "beer bellies".

Following claims some drivers were dangerously underweight to comply with the previous 734kg 'driver plus car' minimum weight, the rules were changed for 2019.

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Now, the driver (plus the seat) will be weighed separately, and must tip the scales at 80kg or more. Any alterations necessary must then be carried in the cockpit area.

"All of us will enjoy our food a little more," Australian Ricciardo smiled.

"I'm not complaining about it. It's not like we're going to take the piss, it's just that a lot of us were tending to starve ourselves on race weekends.

"Even in training we couldn't really do much strength training because we would just put on mass. This just allows us to train harder, eat more," said the Renault driver, who switched from Red Bull.

"It's not like we're going to have beer bellies or anything, we're just going to be stronger and I think that's only a good thing," Ricciardo added.

Ricciardo will feature for a new team in 2019, having moved from Red Bull for a new challenge at Renault.

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