Daniel Ricciardo ordered to slim down by Red Bull to meet team's 2014 race weights Ricciardo will have to lose two kilos ahead of next season. TRAINING will continue in earnest for Australia's Daniel Ricciardo, who has been told to shed a couple more kilos ahead of next year's Formula 1 season. He is one of several already-thin drivers having to lose more weight thanks to the sport's new technical regulations, set to be introduced next year. This year's V8 engines will be replaced by turbocharged V6 units, heavier than their predecessors thanks to the added hardware needed by the new motors. However, that reduces the margin for the driver under the sport's minimum weight regulations, which take into account both the car and its pilot. Ricciardo, one of the taller drivers in the F1 field at 1.75 metres, tips the scales in the mid-60 kilogram range. But he will be looking to edge that down to the low-60s by the time testing of Red Bull's new RB10 begins in January. "Compared to where I am now, I need to lose a couple more kilos," Ricciardo told Brazil's Totalrace. That's my goal. The issue of driver weight has become increasingly contentious, with taller drivers having to stay ultra-lean in pursuit of extra speed: every five extra kilograms costs a driver roughly 0.2 seconds per lap. Haven't eaten for last 5 years! Minimum weight has been too low for ages," the now-retired Mark Webber tweeted earlier this season. Webber, whom Ricciardo replaces at Red Bull, stands at 1.83m and weighs in at 75 kilograms. With the muscle drivers need to withstand the strain of driving an F1 car for up to two hours at a time taking up a lot of their weight, that doesn't leave room for much else. Several F1 teams are currently pushing for the minimum weight of car and driver to be increased by 10kg to 700 for 2015. "I think it should be changed," Red Bull's technical guru Adrian Newey told Autosport. All teams bar one did vote for that weight limit to be increased and it has to be unanimous - but there was one team that objected to it. The topic is set to be a hotly debated subject at the F1 Strategy Group meeting next week, where the teams discuss their thoughts on the future direction of the sport. For his part, Ricciardo doesn't expect losing the weight to be difficult, citing the competitors in his other favourite sport as inspiration. It's not a problem. I like watching UFC (ultimate fighting championship) and those guys lose eight kilos in a week or something when it gets close to the fight. Two kilos in four months will be easy. Ricciardo is set to make his first official appearance as a Red Bull driver when he gives their show car a spin in Sri Lanka next week.