Donuts with Sebastian Vettel and Talking Motorcycles with Daniel Ricciardo

It's human nature to want something that you can't have. Remember Valentino Rossi testing for Ferrari, Michael Schumacher racing bikes after the first retirement or Mark Marquez recently admitting his desire to try F1 someday? Although few were quite as fortunate as dual-sport champion John Surtees. When you have guys that love going fast, naturally there's a healthy amount of crossover.

During the 2014 US Grand Prix week in Austin, Texas, I got a ride with Ferrari F1 driver Sebastian Vettel, in the new Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge and had a chance to sit down with Infiniti driver and Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

Photo courtesy of Red Bull

Shortly after out interview Daniel scrapped out a 3rd place finish at the 2014 US Grand Prix. I sat down to talk cars, bikes and life as an F1 racer.

I hear you love anything on two wheels. What would be the three bikes you would want in your garage?

Pretty much, I would go with the Ducati Desmosedici. I'd really like the Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight, but it would have to be customized. You know, get it worked a bit. And then a dirt-bike, probably just a 250cc, 4-stroke. Back in Australia, I have a KTM 250F. I’m not that good on dirt so a 450 is a bit too much for me. So, I’d have the best of both worlds: sport road, cruising road and a dirt bike.

READ MORE: Why Motocross Deserves Mainstream Acceptance

What’s your preference? Street, dirt or do you like to cruise?

Dirt! I like dirt a lot. Growing up, all of my friends had quad bikes. Mum wouldn’t let me have a 2 wheeler so it was always an ATV. Now that I’m in my mid twenties, I got a bit more freedom so I finally got my dirt bike and I’m looking to spend a bit more time with it over [Christmas break].

Does Red Bull let you do any track days on a bike or canyon riding with friends back at home?

Yea, Red Bull is pretty cool. The brand itself has a lot of cool athletes doing all the extreme sports. The main thing they advise is not to do anything out of our limits or something we haven’t done before. If it’s something we’ve grown up doing or if we’ve got a good feel about it then that’s fine. For example, I’ve only skied once in my life and if I said I want to go to the top of that mountain and ski down with some mates, they’d probably say: “Yeah...you shouldn’t do that”. All the bike stuff is cool.

At what point did you realize you had what it takes to race in F1?

It probably wasn’t until quite late. I was signed to Red Bull’s junior program when I was 17 and it was probably after that year where I won my first race on European soil. That’s when I realized that If I can win at the European level then maybe I have what it takes. With the backing of Red Bull, I knew anything was possible. So, I was probably 18 or 19 years old.

Was there anyone you befriended while you were coming up in racing? Someone that you felt maybe had the same or even slightly more talent at the time but didn’t have the level of support from a program like Red Bull’s?

Unfortunately, the grid is so small and not all of us can end up in F1. I’ve raced against many talented kids even going back to Australia in Go Karts.

I guess I got Red Bull at the time for me and then delivered from there and kept that sponsorship. Like a lot of things its “right place, right time” but I had to back it all up.

How long did it take you to get acclimated to the 2014 car versus previous years?

A bit of time. Unfortunately, winter testing for us was pretty non-existent. We had a lot of issues mechanically and we didn’t do many laps at all. It was really Melbourne, the first race of the year, where we learned a lot about the car and how to drive it. After Melbourne was really where we started to feel a little bit more comfortable with the car. I guess, not until March or April.

I remember watching that first race, kind of shocked, saying “Wow, he came from Torro Rosso straight to the podium!” Was there a point during the race where you had to pinch yourself?

During the race I was definitely aware I was in second but I wasn’t letting any other thoughts or feelings sink in. I was just staying focused and making sure I got to the end.

I was probably more worried about the car breaking down than me making a mistake. We had never done that many laps in winter testing so reliability was our biggest scare. Once I crossed the line and realized I had got my first F1 podium, that was a pretty surreal feeling.