Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull
For Red Bull racing star Daniel Ricciardo, there is no use being upset over his disqualification tast year at Albert Park. Instead of looking back, Ricciardo looks into the future and says he is excited to kick off the Formula One, or F1 season in his home turf.IN PHOTO: Red Bull Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo of Australia raises his trophy as he celebrates his third placed finish in the F1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas November 2, 2014. REUTERS/Adrees Latif REUTERS/Adrees Latif

With only just a month before the first race in Melbourne, Daniel Ricciardo said he is excited to get back on the track in front of his hometown fans. Ricciardo will be racing for Red Bull for the second year in the 20th running of the event at Albert Park. The Aussie Formula One, or F1, star, which has surpassed everyone’s expectations by finishing third last season for Red Bull Racing, is on a quest to earn his F1 World Driver’s Championship in 2015. Will he become the first Australian since Alan Jones in 1980 to win an F1 trophy?

In Ricciardo’s first race for Red Bull Racing in the 2014 season at Albert Park, he finished second to race winner Nico Rosberg of Mercedes but was disqualified for breaching fuel consumption rules. Going into this year’s Australian Grand Prix on March 15, Ricciardo talked about his expectations going into 2015 as Red Bull’s “unofficial” team lead and after completing the first pre-season test in Jerez, Spain with an interview with Australian Grand Prix’s official podcast, Keeping Track.

“More excitement than anything, I mean now that I know I sort of prove myself I can do it,” Ricciardo said. “So it’s just more excitement knowing that If I got the tools with me, you know that weekend in March then I’ve got it all to play for and obviously believe I can do it.”

After the first pre-season testing in Jerez, Red Bull finished towards the bottom of the timesheets. Ferrari made quite a mark after finishing as the fastest team. Mercedes, on the other hand, topped the leaderboard for the most laps completed.

Ricciardo admitted that he “expected nothing less” from Mercedes, which won the Constructor’s World Championship in 2014, but he was a bit chary with reference to Ferrari’s performance in Jerez. Ferrari finished as the fastest team in Jerez. Nonetheless, Ricciardo said he was pretty pleased about Red Bull’s pre-season test. He added that they were still trying to adjust and are hopeful that they will be able to turn things around in time for Melbourne.

In the unofficial test times from Jerez released by F1, Ricciardo finished 12th (1m 23.338s, 84 laps) while his teammate Daniil Kvyat snatched the 14th spot (1m 23.975s, 82 laps). Red Bull finished seventh out of eighth in terms of total distance ran by power unit with 166 laps (735 km).

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