Mad Mike Whiddett Drifts Formula 1 Driver Daniel Ricciardo Around the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
This weekend is the first race of the Formula 1 season and one driver got an alternative view of the track.
Red Bull sponsored driver Daniel Ricciardo is coming into his eighth season in the FIA Formula 1 Championship. He is normally clipping apexs fast and smooth on track, but fellow Red Bull sponsored drifter Mad Mike Whiddett recently showed him an alternative way to drive. Whiddett took Ricciardo for a very spirited ride around the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit.
With videos such as this you would think the driver had many practice laps to get a feel for their car on the track, but according to Red Bull, Whiddett had only one practice lap before Ricciardo joined him for a ride in Whiddett's Mazda MX-5 drift car. You can tell by the tire tracks left by Whiddett's car. "This track is so gnarly, it’s so fast and it’s just an honour to bring drifting here." Whiddett told Red Bull.
Red Bull also spoke with Ricciardo who said "Drifting with ‘Mad’ Mike today was awesome. It’s completely different from our aim, which is getting around as fast as we can but we still got around pretty quick today, and we were sideways."
Whiddett rips the e-brake and does some slides while Ricciardo appears relaxed during the ride. It will be interesting to see if Ricciardo takes some of what he learned from Mad Mike to his next race. Ricciardo will be driving the circuit in his Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Formula 1 car for the 2018 Rolex Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
Check out the Melbourne Drift video via Daniel Ricciardo's Facebook.