F1 Mexico Grand Prix qualifying: Daniel Ricciardo lifts lid on inner turmoil amid sacking saga

Daniel Ricciardo describes it as ‘the most challenging year he has had’. So much so he turned to a psychologist for help amid a sacking saga that shocked the world.

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on the crisis in confidence he has suffered at McLaren and the depths it took him to.

The most affable driver on the grid has endured a torrid time at the British team which culminated in his contract being terminated 12 months ahead of schedule.

His future in the sport has been under constant scrutiny this year and it now seems likely he will take a break from the track in 2023 having not agreed to a new deal with another team.

Lifting the lid on the mental turmoil he has been working through, Ricciardo told the Daily Mail he turned to a psychologist for help.

“My confidence was being eaten away driving a car that wouldn’t dance with me and would bite back,” he said.

“Whenever we thought we found a solution, along would come another set of challenges. “When you put so much into something and it doesn’t work out, there is sadness. It gets to you.

McLaren F1 Team's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo has struggled this year

“Last year it affected me a little bit too much. I wouldn’t be my usual bubbly self.

“I would be reluctant if someone said let’s go out for dinner. I would need some cajoling. I let it get to me.

“I started to speak to a psychologist last year, the most challenging year I have had.”

Ricciardo was not fairly treated by McLaren this year.

On numerous occasions he was publicly shamed for “not meeting expectations” and while he took the criticism on the chin, perhaps the biggest betrayal was Andreas Seidl and Zak Brown backing him in for 2023 while they negotiated a deal for his replacement.

Compatriot Oscar Piastri will take Ricciardo’s drive next season, and while the 33-year-old bears no ill feeling to the rookie, the saga took its toll.

“It is fair to say it was unexpected, given I was on a three-year deal that had a year to run,” he said.

“It is not something you can prepare for. But I’d already had some honest discussions with Andreas (Seidel, team principal) and Zak (Brown, chief executive) earlier in the year to see what we could do to improve things.

“It was a concern on both sides.”

Daniel Ricciardo is always the happiest driver on track

Seemingly at peace with what the future holds, there are some who believe Ricciardo may take up a reserve driver role with Red Bull or Mercedes in order to remain close to the circuit.

He is yet to confirm what his plans are.

With just three races left on the calendar, Ricciardo will start 11th the Mexico Grand Prix.

He was 13th fastest in the opening session and missed out on the top 10 shootout by one tenth of a second behind Fernando Alonso.

While he will no doubt be disappointed by the margin that saw him eliminated, it’s a marked improvement for Ricciardo who has failed to get out of Q1 in three of the last six races.

MAX ON POLE

Two-time world champion Max Verstappen gave Red Bull reason to smile again when he secured pole position with an authoritative late qualifying lap.

After 24 hours of arguments and derision following the announcement of Red Bull’s penalty for breaching Formula One’s $145 million cost cap last year, it was a sweet return to success with his sixth pole this year and the 17th of his career.

The 25-year-old Dutchman clocked a best lap of 1min 17.775sec to finish 0.304 seconds ahead of George Russell and his Mercedes’ team-mate, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton.

Verstappen took control on his first run in Q3 and then trimmed his time to resist the threat from the much-improved Mercedes team. He will be hunting a record 14th win in a single season on Sunday.

His Red Bull team-mate and local hero Sergio Perez was fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and a resurgent Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo.

Charles Leclerc, who crashed heavily on Friday, was seventh in the second Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Alpines of two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

“That was a good qualifying,” said Verstappen afterwards. “It was close, but after FP3 we made a few adjustments and we got the car into a better rhythm.”

Russell was disappointed. “Sorry, sorry, sorry,” he said on his team radio, after running wide on his final lap.

“The team deserved more today. They’ve produced a really great car this weekend and it felt like our pole to have and I did a terrible lap at the end.”

Hamilton, who had harboured hopes of doing better, was philosophical.

“This is the best qualifying we’ve had all year. It just shows that perseverance and never giving up can pay off. I’m quite happy with that position - it’s a along way to Turn One.”

The session came after many leading teams reacted negatively to Red Bull’s $7 million fine and 10 percent reduction in permitted aerodynamic research for overspending last year.

Ferrari said they were deeply “unhappy” and Mercedes said Christian Horner’s description of his team’s punishment as ‘draconian’ was “an exaggeration” while McLaren said it was “not harsh enough.”

VERSTAPPEN ON POLE FOR MEXICO GRAND PRIX!

GRID

VERSTAPPEN

RUSSELL

HAMILTON

PEREZ

SAINZ

BOTTAS

LECLERC

NORRIS

ALONSO

OCON

RICCIARDO

ZHOU

TSUNODA

GASLY

SCHUMACHER

VETTEL

STROLL

ALBON

LATIFI

MAGNUSSEN

STROLL

Q3 PEREZ KNOCKED OFF

I think we might hear the collective sound of Mexican hearts breaking in about eight minutes because Perez just got knocked off provisional pole by Verstappen.

It was all purple for Hamilton but his lap time just got scrapped!

And it’s all falling apart for him now, he’s on the radio saying his power is dropping out.

Q2 DRIVERS OUT

RICCIARDO

ZHOU

TSUNODA

GASLY

MAGNUSSEN

Q2 MERCEDES UNHAPPY

George Russell in all sorts with his front brakes, no heat getting there and he’s losing grip. Not been a happy camper all weekend.

I tell you what’s amazing about this track, it’s one of the few - along with the Dutch and Italian GPs where you can actually hear the roar of the crowd over the broadcast. They’re all here for one mana and one man only, but jeeez it’s goosebump areas.

IN TROUBLE

TSUNODA

PEREZ

ZHOU

GASLY

MAGNUSSEN

Q1 DRIVERS OUT

SCHUMACHER

VETTEL

STROLL

ALBON

LATIFI

“Makes no sense, honestly,” Alex Albon is lost for words as he hasks his engineers what went wrong.

7:15AM PENALTY

Disaster for Schumacher, his time got him into sixth but the lap is deleted for exceeding track limts and that is a massive blow for the Haas man who is fighting for his drive. Back to 17th and two minutes left.

Cut the apex on turn two and it’s a costly and very silly error.

7AM: Q1 CARS ON TRACK

The fact the commentary team are talking about their favourite quality street (English chocolates) is indicative of just how much action there has been in this first session. I’m 50% confident it was an analogy for something but really, this has been action-less thus far.

Midway, Schumacher, Albon, Vettel, Magnussen and Latifi in trouble.

TOP 10 (5 MINS REMAIN IN Q1)

Verstappen
Leclerc
Bottas
Hamilton
Sainz
Russell
Ocon
Alonso
Norris
Perez#MexicoGP#F1pic.twitter.com/Pwf22dKmkC

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2022

6:40am ALONSO REINSTATED

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was reinstated in seventh place at the United States Grand Prix on Friday when his Alpine team successfully protested a 30-second post-race penalty that had demoted him to 15th.

Alonso was penalised following a protest by the Haas team which resulted in his Alpine car being deemed to be dangerous because of a loose mirror following a high-speed crash.

The protest was heard by stewards on Friday ahead of practice at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Alpine were told initially that their protest would be inadmissible, but having used a right to review, they succeeded in presenting new evidence to allow a protest to be considered.

Haas’s protest was then found to be inadmissible because it was made 24 minutes later than allowed in the regulations.

Alonso said he had expected to be reinstated because the decision was vital to the future integrity of the sport.

6:30AM HOW EVERYONE ELSE FAREDFerrari’s Charles Leclerc recovered from his big accident on Friday to take fourth, while grumbling about his car’s handling, ahead of local hero Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari.

Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda of Alpha Tauri and Alex Albon of Williams.

The session followed a morning of continued political intrigue in the paddock as many leading teams reacted negatively to the penalty given to Red Bull for exceeding the $145 million cost cap last year.

On a warm and sunlit day under a clear blue sky, Alfa Romeo and Aston Martin led the way out of the pitlane in search of the the performance to provide impetus into next season.

Hamilton set an early fastest lap time, soon overhauled by Leclerc who was feeling his way following his big crash on Friday, and then Sainz as Ferrari flexed their muscle.

But Mercedes responded with Russell going top in 1:19.405 to endorse the feeling that their much-improved car was well-suited to the high-downforce configuration demanded by the high-altitude circuit.

Having delayed his entry to the action, Verstappen went top with his first flying lap in 1:19.296. “My first sector was terrible with the kerbs,” he complained, suggesting he had performance to spare.

After a lull, the leading group of drivers returned on softs with 20 minutes remaining and Russell, in 1:18.399, went top by outpacing Hamilton by a tenth and providing a rare sighting this year of the two Mercedes leading the way.

Verstappen returned but backed off after missing a braking point at Turn Four. “Same problem again,” he said on team radio before trying another lap and taking third, half a second off the pace.

Local favourite Sergio Perez attempted to join the fray with a crowd-pleasing lap, but he could not improve on sixth after locking-up in the final sector.

He tried again and rose to fourth, before Leclerc outpaced him, but this was a session that saw Mercedes show real potential ahead of qualifying scheduled for later Saturday.