Daniel Ricciardo fashions his aggressive racing type on childhood hero Dale Earnhardt.

Since his 2012 debut seven-time grand prix winner Ricciardo has cast a popularity as considered one of Method One’s greatest overtakers. The Australian, who famously described his strategy as “lick the stamp and ship it”, has made a behavior of late-braking manoeuvres different drivers won’t try.

He credit this mindset with NASCAR legend Earnhardt, who impressed Ricciardo’s choice to race with the quantity three. Earnhardt, whose hard-nosed racing type earned the ‘Intimidator’ nickname, died 20 years in the past in an accident on the 2001 Daytona 500.

“I bear in mind vividly the race 20 years in the past,” Ricciardo stated in his first media look for brand spanking new F1 crew McLaren.

“I used to be crying, I used to be crying, I referred to as my buddy on the time, Steven, we raced go-karts collectively, and he was additionally a giant Earnhardt fan. I referred to as him and we mainly cried on the cellphone collectively.”

Referencing his personal nickname, the Honey Badger, Ricciardo stated this was his tackle the way in which Earnhardt raced, which he acquired to do when given the possibility to race for Crimson Bull in 2014.

“He was a hero for positive and it was actually in 2014 once I took on the quantity three, and I additionally had it at the back of my thoughts to tackle ‘The Intimidator’, my model of that was the honey badger.

“I felt it was my yr to make a little bit of an announcement, to be the man that was, for example, not afraid to placed on a giant transfer, to race onerous, I did not really feel I might fairly had that but and that first yr with Crimson Bull was the primary likelihood to make that assertion and to earn that popularity.

“For positive a part of that was on the again of Earnhardt and the way he impressed me.”

The F1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.