Daniel Ricciardo: ‘Try to kick some butt and see where the wind takes me’

The once world-champion-in-waiting is under the pump. And he knows it.

Daniel Ricciardo of Australia Picture: Getty Images

They’re packed 15 deep at Melbourne Walk. Young folk make their piggy little squeals. AC/DC’s Thunderstruck is on auto-loop as Daniel Ricciardo does the obli­gatory selfies and signs a few T-shirts and posters and flashes a set of teeth whiter than piano keys. But there’s an edge to the bloke this year and quickly he shuffles along.

Ricciardo will be driving angry at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. Carrying a supersized chip on his shoulder. Trying to prove himself all over again. Like he did when he was hell on wheels a decade ago.

Those were the days for Ricciardo. Shoeys at every turn and ­podiums in perpetuity. His luminous personality and kookaburra laugh was saving a sport thought to be suffering a bypass.

Ricciardo came a whirlwind third in the 2014 world championship race, aged just 25. He won the prestigious Laureus World Sport Award for Breakthrough of the Year and F1 was at his mercy. Now he’s on skid row and the 34-year-old could be out of a job if he doesn’t fire up in Melbourne.

“Try to kick some butt and see where the wind takes me,” he said on Thursday.

The New York Times once profiled Ricciardo under the headline of, “Daniel Ricciardo, Mr Smiley, Bares His Teeth On The Track”. The yarn said, “If a survey could be made of the 22 F1 drivers to establish who smiles the most, has the sunniest disposition and seems to be generally the nicest guy, Ricciardo would surely be the leader.”

That’s probably still the case but Mr Smiley’s light has dimmed just a little. He’s forever an agreeable and chatty soul. He talked at 300km/h on Thursday as Oscar Piastri could barely get a word in. But Ricciardo’s spirits aren’t quite as sky high as they used to be. And his results have dipped to the point where Australia’s 1980 world champion, Alan Jones, fears Mr Smiley is “treading water” as an F1 driver. He might be having one for the road at Albert Park.

“I don’t buy into any of the stories, if you will,” Ricciardo said. “I know obviously what my position is in the team. I know there’s some potential things that could happen if I do really well. It’s always our objective to do the best we can. Whatever happens will happen, or can happen …”

Ricciardo was talking like he’ll be driving in Friday’s practice sessions. Round in circles. Whatever happens will happen, or can happen? F1 is a funny old game for team switches and if Mr Smiley can turn his frown and results upside down, he could end up with a prime deal at Red Bull if Max Verstappen nicks off to Mercedes.

“I’m definitely not looking too far ahead,” he said. “Am I thinking about the Red Bull seat you speak of? No. I know if I do some really good results, maybe that can present itself. Potentially. I think I just take it weekend after weekend.

RB drivers Liam Lawson, left, and Daniel Ricciardo at Albert Park Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“There will always be some whatever (rumours) going around but I know my job and what I need to do. Through experience, the more you get caught up in that stuff, it starts taking focus away from my job. And that’s driving as fast as possible.”

Mr Smiley jumped on the back of a golf cart in the paddock on Thursday. His RB car is so terribly off the pace he might as well take the cart into Sunday’s race.

“It’s not annoying,” he told a media conference of the gloomy talk about his future. “It’s a big part of our job. The most important part is the driving, but a big part is talking to you guys. When things go well, everyone’s talking positively. When things aren’t going well, they don’t talk too positively. That’s just part of it. I’m back here because I believe I can do it. I believe I belong here. When people say, ‘do you have a point to prove?’ I’m here for myself. It’s honestly that.”

But in an interview with Wide World of Sports, he said: “I’m not even really thinking about, ‘Oh, if I get this result, then maybe it means that’. I’m just trying to approach every weekend kind of like I did 10 years ago. Just with a little bit of a point to prove to myself more than anything. A little bit of a chip on my shoulder.”

Mr Smiley is coming off an underwhelming 13th and 16th at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He said of his golf cart: “We’re here to push the car to the limit and try to make it as good as can be. After the first two races it hasn’t been amazing but it’s not a concern. It’s two races out of 24. It’s very early in the year but I do definitely want to have a strong weekend.”

Mr Smiley needs a bit of a miracle to reach the top 10, let alone the podium. “Maybe we can’t win this weekend but maybe we can be top 10 and get a little bag of points,” he said. “But it’s tight. We’re in a tight midfield. You can very quickly look like a hero or not. Every tenth counts and I owe it to myself to chase that. I do want to make people proud, the people that support me.”

Jones isn’t alone in suggesting Mr Smiley needs to save face sooner rather than later. Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko has made it clear Ricciardo needs to get cracking. What a position for Ricciardo to find himself in. He could be in a dynamite Red Bull car next year. Or he could be out of a job. “If someone says something – I know it already,” Ricciardo said of Marko’s comments. “Because I’ve already told myself that. I know what’s expected of me.”