F1 2022: Daniel Ricciardo on the career storyline that he wants to rewrite ahead of the Australian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo may have thrown away his best shot at an F1 title by leaving Red Bull too soon but the Aussie ace has the perfect response for his critics.

They are the four words Daniel Ricciardo can’t wait to say to his critics: “I told you so”.

The words that would change the career storyline and the ever-present questions that have followed the Australian Formula One star for more than three years: Why did he ever leave Red Bull?

When he’s struggling for results on track, the questions are there.

When his former Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen won the world championship last year, the questions were there.

And after McLaren’s rugged start to the season at the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this season, they have been on the agenda again.

F1 expert David Croft opened old wounds again last month when he said he feared Ricciardo could be in the “wrong place at the wrong time” at McLaren and questioned why he threw his best shot at winning a world title away by leaving Red Bull in the first place.

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Martin Brundle also agreed Ricciardo’s initial shock decision to leave Red Bull for Renault at the end of 2018 was a “knee-jerk reaction he did not need to take”.

For all the commentary, Ricciardo is not bothered by the talk. He said he had no regrets and remained steadfast in the belief his 2018 call was the “right thing” for him.

But he knows there is only going to be one way to ever really put an end to it and change the narrative about his career.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia and McLaren

“Obviously I would love to win a title with McLaren and then kind of say ‘I told you so’ or whatever but I appreciate until that happens then there will probably be that narrative with a lot of people,” Ricciardo said.

“That’s OK. It doesn’t bother me. I also knew that it was also going to come with the territory of leaving a big team and obviously at the time I felt like that was the right thing for me.

“You kind of stand by that and it really did feel like the right thing.

“It’s not something I look back on and regret it or think I should have done differently. But I guess as well now Red Bull are back on top or fighting again for the world titles, I knew that would come around as well.

If Red Bull got back to the top, it would be like ‘If you were still there, look where you could be’.

Ricciardo maintained there was far more to the decision than staying in a fast car.

“There are also a lot of things internally in the team so it’s not just (about) ‘The car is fast, you should have stayed’,” Ricciardo said.

“Internally you have to be comfortable with everything that is going on inside the team and in 2019 my engineer Simon (Rennie), who I really built a very good relationship with, he wasn’t going to be there in 2019 so I knew I was going to lose him if I stayed.

“And they were going to Honda. There were a lot of things that gave me a little bit of discomfort or lack of stability.

“I guess when you break it down it makes sense, but I totally get why people will say ‘You shouldn’t have done that’ or whatever.

“That’s expected and I can’t say it bothers me, it is what it is.”

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Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with Daniel Ricciardo

TOUGH START

Since his departure from Red Bull, Ricciardo has claimed one race victory – at Monza last year – and finished ninth, fifth (Renault) and eighth (McLaren) in the drivers’ standings.

The introduction of the 2022 F1 cars heralded a new era for the sport and hopes that McLaren, fourth in the constructors championship last year, could fight its way further up the grid.

The new cars were always going to bring an element of the unknown for teams, but neither

McLaren or Ricciardo could have foreseen the difficult start to the year they would face.

There were encouraging signs at the opening pre-season test in Barcelona but the team’s fortunes soon turned.

Ricciardo missed the second test in Bahrain after contracting Covid and teammate Lando Norris was left to complete testing by himself.

The Australian and Norris finished 14th and 15th as the team struggled for pace in the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain and the Australian’s fortunes didn’t improve at the second race in Saudi Arabia after he was forced to retire.

Ricciardo said the team’s start to the season was a long way off expectations.

“You never know where your competitors are at, so it’s hard to ever get fully confident or excited, but I will say at the time the team hit the targets in the development phase, in the wind tunnel and it seemed like we were on our personal track,” Ricciardo said.

“I think we were expecting to be a third or fourth best team again and fighting there on the fringes of top fives and top eights.

“That was probably the expectation if we had any.

“I have done plenty of pre-seasons before and … at Red Bull and we were like ‘This will be our year’ and we weren’t quite there so I’ve kind of learnt not to get my hopes up.

“But we all felt that we would be better than what we showed in Bahrain. So that was an unfortunate reality to where we currently are.”

McLaren's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo is pictured on the grid

HOMECOMING

It had been more than 18 months since Ricciardo had been able to get home to see his family in Western Australia due to the pandemic and border closures.

After a challenging first season with McLaren – save for his stunning Monza win – it was exactly what Ricciardo had craved.

Family time, a home-cooked meal and some quiet time on his farm were the tonic for the on-track challenges that had magnified his homesickness.

Ricciardo was forced to push through a stint in hotel quarantine in order to get his Australian summer over the off-season but it was worth the wait.

“It was much needed, it was valuable for sure and it was just nice to spend time with family,” Ricciardo said.

“I think last year if I won every race and won the world title then I probably would have dealt with it a little easier but because there were obviously challenges as well then that kind of heightened the homesickness.

“It was just nice to get back and just spend time with them.

“Missing nearly two years of someone’s life, a lot changes in two years and everyone is getting older year by year, so each year that passes, you hold it to a higher value and hopefully we don’t have to go through that again.”

Ricciardo was clear on what he had missed most about home.

“The first thing that came to my head was mum’s cooking,” Ricciardo said.

“It is something where just the nature of the sport, we are in hotels and we basically eat out nearly every night of the year. There are not many home meals in general.

“Kind of getting back to a home cooked meal from mum and sitting together as a family was stuff that I missed the most.”

During the first pandemic-enforced lockdown when F1 shut down, Ricciardo retreated to his farm and he again spent time there recharging ahead of the 2022 season.

“We have buggies and motorbikes and a few toys to have fun on but it’s also just, it’s kind of where I enjoy catching up with my friends the most,” Ricciardo said.

“It is obviously in solitude and there is no other distraction.

“We are not there watching TV or on the internet, we are just there and we are talking and we are just getting the most out of each other’s company.

“That’s what I really like the most about it. Sure, we will have fun and go on the buggies and stuff but it is more the simple things like literally watching sunsets and just sitting back with a beer or something and just talking and catching up.

“It’s kind of those simple things I think are really valuable when you haven’t seen friends for so long.”

HOME RACE

Despite McLaren’s early-season struggles, Ricciardo said this was the most excited he had felt about returning to Australia for his home Grand Prix at Albert Park.

It has been three years since Ricciardo has lined up on the grid in Australia after the 2020 and 2021 races were cancelled due to the pandemic.

While Ricciardo admitted his home race could present its challenges – as everyone wanted a piece of the Australian star in a “hectic” build-up to the race – he said not having had a home GP for the past two years had made him realise how “privileged” he was to have one.

“In a way, it’s kind of like ‘You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone’,” Ricciardo said.

“I’ve always enjoyed Aus, but for sure it has been hectic at times and it has been exhausting but I think deep down I have always appreciated having a home race and it certainly is privileged.

“So not being able to go back there and compete for a few years now has certainly been missed, which might be a good thing because this is the most excited I have been to get home to race.”

Ricciardo’s home race hasn’t always been kind to him.

His best result has been a pair of fourth-placed finishes in 2016 and 2018 with Red Bull but he was also disqualified once and had several retirements.

Ricciardo was forced to retire early in his last race at Albert Park in 2019 – his first season with Renault – after damaging his front wing on the opening lap.

He was unsure if his McLaren would be “competitive or not ‘’ but was determined to make the most of the event’s return regardless.

“When I look back, obviously we were there in 2020 but we did not race, we were there in 2019 but my race did not last very long,” Ricciardo said.

“It feels like the last time I actually had a proper race there was in 2018 so it has been a long time so I am very, very excited to get back.

“Whether we are competitive or not I think just to race on home soil will be a good time.”

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) McLaren MCL36 Mercedes

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KARMA BET

Ricciardo has been partial to a bet on his race results with his team bosses.

He famously waged a bet with Cyril Abiteboul for the former Renault boss to get a tattoo if the Australian finished on the podium for the team in 2020.

And last year, Ricciardo got to drive his racing hero Dale Earnhardt Snr’s 1984 Chevrolet Monte Carlo from McLaren team boss Zak Brown’s collection after his win at Monza.

Ricciardo said he was yet to strike a deal with Brown over a bet this year, but suggested coming up with something might help bring some good “karma” for the team.

“We haven’t (made a bet) yet but we probably should,” Ricciardo said.

“Maybe that will be some good karma for us or something … to manifest some good results.

“We were supposed to have dinner together earlier in the year but we had to push it back and we literally haven’t had time. I think it was over dinner that we did it last time.

“I have basically got to sit across the table from him, maybe over a glass of wine and then figure something out.”