His hopes of taking out the Formula One drivers' title have faded, but Australian Daniel Ricciardo is still itching to hit the track at the United States Grand Prix this weekend.
The three-time 2014 race winner says Austin's Circuit of the Americas, introduced to the annual tour two years ago, is his favourite date on the F1 calender.
"The Circuit of the Americas, in my opinion, is the best of the new breed of circuits," he said.
"Hand on heart, this is probably the date on the calendar I look forward to the most."
"(It's) a very busy track where you don't get much respite."
The 25-year-old said the track's first turn, which delves blind up a big hill, was "like nothing else" in Formula One.
Ricciardo's outgoing Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel agreed, with the German driver saying he was also looking forward to tackling the track's "extremely fast turns".
At 199 points on the rankings, Ricciardo trails title leader and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton by 92 points.
Hamilton, 29, leads Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany by 17 points as he sets himself to claim his 10th win of the season at the Austin asphalt.
Meanwhile, Vettel trails even further behind, currently ranked fifth on F1 standings.
There are 100 points still available in the competition.
If Hamilton wins, the Briton will notch up his fifth consecutive race win and set himself up well for next month's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which is worth double points.
But Rosberg could retain a mathematical title chance if he is within 50 points of the Englishman after the next two races in America and Brazil.
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