‘Am I washed?’: Ricciardo shares career fear, his problem with fickle F1
Daniel Ricciardo has weighed in on the constant speculation about his future in F1 as he fights to keep his spot on the grid for next year.
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Daniel Ricciardo believes F1 fans and commentators are too quick to judge drivers as he maintains he can produce the results needed to revive his career sooner rather than later.
Ricciardo is yet to score a championship point this season and has frequently been outqualified by his VISA Cash App RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda, prompting concern this may be his last year on the grid.
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F1 is a brutal sport, as Ricciardo experienced when he was rear ended by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll at the Chinese Grand Prix — ending his race and what had been a solid weekend with nothing to show for it.
Heading into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, Ricciardo says he’s taking it one race at a time, despite an increasing sense of urgency around the driver market for 2025.
Speaking to ESPN, the Aussie said he tries not to read media coverage about himself and laments the fact fans and pundits often criticise or praise drivers based on their performance in one race.
Ricciardo said: “I’m sure a lot of people, my fans, F1 fans, whoever, have been saying ‘f***ing hell Daniel, pull your finger out, what the f*** are you doing?’ That’s just part of this whole thing.
“I’m sure for a lot of them it comes out of a place of them caring and wanting me to do good. And then for some they just have a negative opinion they won’t change.
“I tend not to read stuff about me. I’m generally not a big reader, but inevitably you come across stuff.
“But it’s one of those things. I perform at a few races and all of a sudden it’s ‘Daniel’s back’ or ‘Daniel’s in contention for this, or that’.”
He also raised the reaction to Carlos Sainz’s victory at the Australian Grand Prix after having his appendix removed as an example of the fickle nature of F1.
“(Carlos) did great in Melbourne, coming back after the surgery, winning the race — amazing win, he did frickin’ awesome,” Ricciardo said.
“But it’s one win and suddenly people can be like ‘oh he’s the highest rated driver on the grid’ or whatever … then if Charles wipes the floor with him for a few races those same people would be ‘oh, it was just a one-off, Carlos isn’t all that,’ you know what I mean? It’s like that.
“I know if I was going to have an awesome weekend or two, the narrative would suddenly be that Daniel’s back. It can change so quickly.
“But that’s also an example where you can’t get caught out on it. If you read everything it’s like, ‘oh I’m the man’, ‘oh no I’m not the man’, ‘oh I’m the man’, ‘oh no I’m not the man,’ just over and over.
“Then you start, if you’re not strong minded enough, you start doubting yourself … am I past it, am I a bit washed? Whatever.
“I know if I was to read something at the moment it’s not going to say ‘Daniel’s on fire this year.’ Clearly on paper I’m not. But do I feel like I have the ability to be on fire and go on a run? Absolutely I do.”
While this year’s F1 driver line-up is the same as last year, the grid will look different next year with several drivers changing teams while talented youngsters including Red Bull’s reserve Liam Lawson wait in the wings.
Already confirmed is Lewis Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari which has opened up a seat at Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg’s move from Haas to Sauber.
Genius car designer Adrian Newey’s decision to quit Red Bull has left Max Verstappen’s future up in the air, while fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Perez isn’t locked in beyond this season.
Ricciardo and Visa Cash App RB team boss Laurent Mekies are saying all the right things about the 35-year-old’s maturity and influence on the team, and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said the door is open for Ricciardo to return to his old team.
But he is realistic enough to know he must put his car in the points regularly if there is any chance of that happening.
“I don’t wanna still be at Monaco (at the end of May) like ‘Yeah it will happen this weekend’.”
There are three races in May — at Miami, Imola and Monaco — and nine before the midseason break in August when F1’s so-called silly season kicks off.
Since his time at McLaren, there is an argument that Ricciardo is too quick to blame underwhelming results on an imperfect car that doesn’t suit his driving style.
His Visa Cash App RB car had a new chassis in China and is expected to get more upgrades throughout the season. Ricciardo will be hoping his effort starts to produce results soon.
“I only care about what Christian, Helmut (Marko, Red Bull racing advisor), Laurent and a couple of others think in the paddock,” Ricciardo said.
“Their opinions are the ones which matter. They’re the only people that have all the data, all the info of if I’m pulling my weight or am I not. They’re the only people that know the black and white answer.”
The Miami Grand Prix takes place this weekend — the Sprint is on Sunday (AEST) and the race proper on Monday at 6am (AEST).
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Originally published as ‘Am I washed?’: Ricciardo shares career fear, his problem with fickle F1
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