Bittersweet F1 return for Daniel Ricciardo as ‘fastest ever’ Australian Grand Prix predicted

E ight-time F1 Grand Prix winner, Daniel Ricciardo, returns to the Australian Grand Prix this weekend without a car, but still with plenty of local support at Albert Park, as Melbourne prepares for its biggest weekend of the sporting year and Formula One fans eagerly await what is being tipped as the “fastest race in Melbourne ever”.

Sacked last year by McLaren and replaced with rookie fellow-Australian Oscar Piastri, the popular Ricciardo will endure the bittersweet experience of watching his home grand prix from the outer as his former team battle to get off the ground floor in 2023.

McLaren is tied with AlphaTauri for dead last in the constructors’ standings on zero points after two races and their season is already being written off as a disaster. Engine failure meant Piastri couldn’t finish his debut in Bahrain, and although the Melbourne rookie overtook teammate Lando Norris, McLaren still finished 15th.

The F1 season traditionally kicks off in Melbourne but this year the 58-lap event will be the third race of the 2023 calendar. A record 419,114 fans attended last year’s Australian GP, making it the biggest sporting weekend in Melbourne’s history.

This year’s talking point is a resurfaced track with some radical changes. Organisers have introduced a fourth DRS zone, located along the back of the circuit between Turns 6 and 11, and removed the chicane at Turns 9 and 10. The drastic remodelling is fuelling hopes this year’s Australian GP will be the “fastest race in Melbourne ever”.

“You’ve got the evolution of the cars from last year, and the fourth DRS zone means the cars will be quicker around the back of the circuit,” Australian Grand Prix chief Andrew Westacott said. “(It) will obviously increase speed and