Ricciardo hoping for home redemption

Daniel Ricciardo is gunning for redemption at next week's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Red Bull star has a chequered past at his home race, having been forced to retire last year after a crash in qualifying put him behind the eight ball.

Ricciardo made it to Q3 in Melbourne 12 months ago, but he spun on his first attempt at pole and needed a new gearbox, which cost him five places on the grid to start 15th.

He ended up starting from the pitlane after an electrical failure on the formation lap before eventually retiring on lap 25 due to a fuel-cell issue.

Ricciardo has never managed a podium finish in six attempts on home soil - he was disqualified in 2014 on his Red Bull debut over a breach of fuel consumption rules.

Red Bull are expected to bring a renewed challenge to Mercedes and Ferrari in 2018, having spent the first half of last year playing catch-up to the title rivals and Ricciardo wants to hit the ground running.

"Starting the F1 season in Australia means there is so much hype and so much build up,” he said.

"With me being the only Australian on the grid there is extra attention, extra questioning and expectation.

"It's a lot but it's fun, it's cool but it does mean I usually leave that weekend needing 48 hours of pure serenity and quietness!

"Melbourne in 2017 was a combination of my errors and some misfortune, I crashed in qualifying and then we had a technical issue for the race.

"We were all putting our hand up saying 'my fault' last year so 2018 is definitely time to get what we deserve in Melbourne, or get what we came for, that sounds better."