Ricciardo raises concerns: 'Do we want an extremely dangerous corner?'

Formula 1 has its last race before the summer break this weekend, as drivers head to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix. Speaking ahead of the weekend, Visa Cash App RB driver Daniel Ricciardo shared his thoughts on the challenging weekend ahead.

Spa is the longest circuit on the F1 calendar, and also comes with Eau Rouge - the track's most dangerous corner. Numerous drivers have called in the past for changes to be made following the deaths of drivers at the circuit. Speaking to GPblog and others in the paddock in Hungary though, Ricciardo gave his verdict on the controversial track. "I mean, it's still an exciting track. I think it's one of those ones where we've all driven a lot of times now. So just naturally, you're not as excited as the first time you ever drove there and did it as you say in dry conditions," he said. "Eau Rouge, it's pretty easy now. But Spa rains probably 50 per cent of the time and in the wet, Eau Rouge is a fricking scary corner and it's a real corner. So it depends on the weather."

In 2014, Ricciardo secured his third F1 win at the circuit when he was a Red Bull driver. Although he sees Eau Rouge as a challenge, there is another part of the track which he favours: "It's du Pouhon that is really cool. That one is a real corner. It's seventh, just probably with a little lift in quality," the Australian revealed. "So is it still a great circuit? It is, but maybe the challenge is 20 years ago. Maybe there were three or four challenges on the track. Maybe now there's two."

Is Eau Rouge too dangerous?

In regards to previous accidents, the Australian was asked his opinion on the fact that there is a margin to avoid accidents. Ricciardo responded: "I don't know if it was last year, but recently they definitely made some changes pushing the barriers away. I believe in Eau Rouge there, maybe it was for last year. Lando had the big qualifying crash in '21 there. I know they made changes and that's a thing because there have been some terrible accidents there. At some point of course, we're like, yes, we want to take safety and yes, this corner is iconic and whatever, but do we want it to be an extremely dangerous corner?"

"The corner is still fun. It's not nothing. I think that in the race, maybe tucked in someone's slipstream, holding it flat in dirty air with less downforce, is still kind of scary in a way, in a fun way. Trying to push all the barriers away, I think that sort of corner and with a track that does get mixed conditions, I think it's the right thing," the VCARB driver concluded.