WATCH: Daniel Ricciardo Pats Mechanic’s Head While in the Car

It now seems that the Renault team have some very unusual customs, especially the drivers. During one of the practice sessions, cameras spotted Daniel Ricciardo patting the bald head of one of his mechanics. The Australian possibly viewed the action as a sign of good luck.

Interestingly, his predecessor, Carlos Sainz Jr, also did the same thing, incidentally, to the same mechanic. At the time, the bemused mechanic just shook his head as he struggled to not laugh. Now, it seems that Sainz Jr has let Ricciardo in on that little tradition, and the Aussie is exploiting it to its maximum.

In all honesty, Renault really do need some luck on their side after a horrible start to the season for them. Canada actually marks the first time this season that both cars finished in the points. It was also Daniel Ricciardo’s first points of the season, so it seems that rubbing a bald head is a good omen for Daniel Ricciardo.

For this weekend, Renault have brought in a B-Spec engine, which Daniel Ricciardo have a first crack at. Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said to Motorsport.com: “We will introduce a new Spec B ICE this weekend on Daniel’s car. This ICE represents a good step forward in performance.”

Meanwhile, the other Renault of Nico Hulkenberg will have to make do with the older power unit. The idea was to avoid having Hulkenberg cop a grid penalty in their home race.

Abiteboul continued, “Nico will take his new engine at a different race, but as he will incur a penalty for exceeding the three ICEs permitted per year, we don’t want it to be in France, our home race.”

“The ICE was scheduled for use at a later race, but we are ahead of schedule so are pleased to be able to use it here.”