Daniel Ricciardo sets himself 'reminder to breathe' during "physical" Tuscan GP

Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo sets himself 'reminder to breathe' during "physical" Tuscan GP

Ricciardo claims he held his breath through Casanova and Arrabbiata

Ian Parkes & Ewan Gale

Saturday 12 September 2020 18:36 Updated: 19:21

Daniel Ricciardo believes he will need to remind himself to breathe during the Tuscan Grand Prix due to the nature of the scintillating Mugello circuit.

The Renault driver had remarked at one point over the team radio during qualifying that he was "breathless" after tackling the high-speed Casanova and Arrabbiata corners on his Q2 lap.

The track is physically demanding, with the drivers recording 5g forces through the compression at Savelli - the left-hander between the aforementioned corners.

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Reflecting on the lap that led to his remark, Ricciardo said: "It was a good lap so I was quite excited. Probably from turn six to the exit of nine, we are holding our breath because it is so fast and you are hanging on.

"It's on the edge around here. For one lap, you put it all in. It did take a bit out of me."

As to the prospect of 59 laps in the race with such seemingly exhausting conditions, Ricciardo added: "I got asked quite a bit about this in the pen [tv interview area], about me running out of breath, and everyone is quite concerned for me, [asking] 'Are you going to be okay tomorrow?'

"Obviously the tempo and the rhythm is lower in the race. Don't get me wrong, I think it will be physical, we are going to be pretty exhausted by the end of it. I won't deny that.

"But certainly [I have] no concern over my physical condition, especially with air temperature, I think we are above 30 tomorrow, so it's going to be tough, but I certainly look forward to the challenge.

"I'll remember to breathe because it sounds silly, but you can get so caught up in it that I'm probably holding my breath all through the high speed.

"I think in the race I've just got to be a bit more aware of that - to breathe and stay a bit more relaxed for the 59 laps."

Q3 running was cut short by team-mate Esteban Ocon's untimely spin at the exit of Poggio Secco, costing the majority of the drivers in the top 10 the chance to improve their lap times.

Ricciardo was one of those hampered by the yellow flags and believes he had found the pace to qualify in the top five, despite a difficult weekend.

"Looking at Charles' [Leclerc] time, I think that is what we did in Q2," he said.

"So matching that, I think we could have been P5, which I think was very achievable. Generally, it was a good session.

"Getting both cars into Q3 was a good result. We are in good stead for tomorrow."

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