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via Reuters

via Reuters

The 2022 season is already moving to the third race and which will take place in Australia. The upcoming Australian GP would happen at the home ground for the McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo. Already, his fans are waiting for their home driver to race in Melbourne as they have prepared a special tribute for him on the circuit.

The Australian GP was out of the F1 calendar for the past two years and is finally making its return this season. Therefore, Australian fans are excited about the upcoming race and more so because the Honey Badger would be there. Further, the sponsors there also got a special banner on the circuit that reads, “G0.0 RICCIARDO”. Also, the race will start from the Ricciardo banner.

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This was a way of showing their support for the home driver. Further, the sponsors had a minor word game in the banner to promote their brand. The banner has “0.0” instead of “OO”, it was done to promote the non-alcoholic beer by Heineken. But this gesture from the sponsors would be a great tribute to Daniel Ricciardo. However, it might also create a bit of pressure on the 34-year-old McLaren driver.

Can Daniel Ricciardo win in the Australian GP?

The Aussie didn’t have a great start this season. First, he couldn’t spend much time with the 2022 challenger and had to miss the Bahrain testing as he was tested positive for COVID-19. However, he came back before the Bahrain GP but was having issues driving the MCL36. He even got eliminated in the Q1 and had to start the race from P18. But he eventually moved up in the main race and finished at P14.

Read More: WATCH: Kevin Magnussen Has a Frightening Moment With Near-Stationary McLaren F1 of Daniel Ricciardo at Jeddah

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Ricciardo then moved to Jeddah, but the poor performance again followed him there. This time he got eliminated in the Q2, securing a P12 for himself. But the Australian driver had it much worse in the Jeddah race. He couldn’t finish it and had to retire because he lost drive in his MCL36.

via Reuters

Now, the Honey Badger would be coming to his country for the third race of the season. However, he doesn’t have pleasant records in Australian races. His last appearance was in 2019 when he had to pull into the pits on Lap 31 and had to retire from the Grand Prix.

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Fans should keep their eyes on Daniel Ricciardo. It would be fascinating to see if the Honey Badger would be able to turn the tables on his home track this season.