Daniel Ricciardo opens up on ‘punches in the gut’ after calling for F1 ‘answers’
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo at 2022 McLaren launch
Daniel Ricciardo’s confidence took a hit during his time at McLaren. The Aussie underperformed for the Woking-based team during a couple of disappointing seasons on the grid alongside Lando Norris, which left him searching for “answers”.
Ricciardo had his contract terminated a season early despite the eight-time Grand Prix winner insisting he was “committed to McLaren until the end of next year”. He was eventually picked up by Red Bull as a reserve driver where he sat on the sidelines for the first half of the 2023 season before replacing Nyck de Vries at Red Bull’s sister team AlphaTauri in July.
Ricciardo was filled with self-doubt before he joined Red Bull this year but his confidence picked up thanks to words of encouragement from those around the paddock.
“I wanted to get some answers, just for my own peace of mind,” Ricciardo told assembled media in Abu Dhabi when asked about his return to form with AlphaTauri in 2023.
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“I would speak to some people in the paddock just in passing even, or you might bump into someone at breakfast at the hotel, and I would get some positive feedback or encouragement in terms of, ‘I’ve seen what people are saying, they think you’ve forgotten how to drive.
“It’s bulls***, you don’t forget how to drive overnight’ and the kind of, ‘don’t lose your confidence, you’ll find your way back if you want it’ – so there’s definitely some positive stuff like that.
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“That’s why as soon as I spoke with Helmut and Christian towards the end of last year, and the thought of just being back in that family and just even having a go on the simulator, having some data with Max again, and then obviously Checo, I was like, ‘okay, even if it’s a simulator, I just kind of want to see if I can still do it and if the car feels the way I want it to feel’.
“I was curious because, as much as the McLaren I felt, obviously, it didn’t suit me, I felt like it was certainly compounded over time with my confidence dropping and getting kind of lower and lower, after obviously taking quite a few punches in the gut. So yeah, a lot of things I wanted to answer.”
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