Just under two weeks ago, during the build-up to the Australian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo did his part to generate some hype for the race.
The Australian took part in what could possibly be described as the toughest interview of his Formula 1 career. Ricciardo paid a visit to one of the primary schools in Melbourne where a classroom full of pupils peppered him with questions.
Was he nervous? Not our Daniel. Oh, no!
He said: "I feel I’m pretty good with kids. As long as I can give them back at the end of the day. I’m normally pretty good."
The kids in attendance peppered Ricciardo with a truckload of questions; some even got our favourite Australian to crack up with laughter. One kid asked Ricciardo if he names his cars, to which Ricciardo said not to. But he did mention a specific German driver - Sebastian Vettel, if it’s not yet clear - who does name his F1 race cars.
Ricciardo drives for Renault and is in the final year of his contract with the French team.
Season in turmoil
The 2020 F1 season got off to a very rocky start when a number of races got called off or postponed in the wake of the dreaded coronavirus. Codenamed Covid-19, the virus wreaked havoc across the sporting world and F1 is one of the sports affected by it.
Prior to the Australian GP kicking off, the Chinese GP asked for postponement, while Bahrain said that it will run its race without any fans in attendance. Two hours before the first practice session for the Australian GP was supposed to get underway, the entire race weekend got called off.
READ: Haas team boss on 2020 F1 season: 'Will we be racing this year? No idea'
For Ricciardo, this was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow not to race in front of his home crowd, but he understood. He wrote on Twitter: "I’m devastated I can’t compete at my home GP here in Melbourne & get the season started. Ultimately though the right decision has been made."