F1 news: Daniel Ricciardo came close to quitting Formula One but now the Australian racer is revitalised and ‘all in’
Daniel Ricciardo admits he was close to quitting the sport he loves following a brutal spell after leaving Red Bull, but now the Australian F1 star is back.
Daniel Ricciardo came so close to giving it all up.
In 2022, the nation’s greatest racing driver had a mediocre season, a brutal split with McLaren, and a serious case of burnout.
A little time at his family farm in Western Australia made the Formula One superstar reconsider the future.
And a day at the racetrack in a 350km/h F1 RB, after months in a plain old civilian car, put that need for speed back in his veins.
In his cover interview for GQ Australia’s March/April issue, on sale in The Australian this Friday, Ricciardo even admits that – just for a second – he was a little scared at how fast he was driving.
“The first lap I drove, I was like, ‘Oh wow, these cars are f..king fast.’ Once the season starts going, your eyes adapt to the speed, your body gets used to the forces you’re always under. Not driving for eight or nine months … your body’s in shock. And so the first lap I drove, I was honestly, you could say, scared.
“But it’s funny, it quickly comes back. Lap one, call it a little bit of fear, then probably at lap three or four (I’m) feeling completely at home again. That was really important for me, because in my head I was ready to come back. But until you drive … you don’t know. Because my confidence had been knocked around a little bit, it’s even that (question) – ‘Do I still have it?’ ”
Ricciardo recounts how he returned to WA to reflect on his future, following his disappointing season on the track. He really thought he may not make it back.
“I was burned out,” he tells GQ ahead of this month’s Melbourne Grand Prix. “I needed to just be home and not have a schedule, not have anywhere to be, not have any pressure.
“When I got fired from McLaren, at that time, it seemed like the worst thing ever. But six, 12 months later, I look back on it and I’m like, ‘OK, I think all this is happening for a reason and it’s all good’.”
The Perth-born driver had struggled in the ranks that season against the pack and his teammate, Lando Norris – something he named as a catalyst for the split between himself and McLaren.
He tells GQ: “The moment I knew where it was too far gone is, if I was still qualifying behind Lando, but maybe only two tenths behind him instead of five tenths, that was now seen as a good job. That’s just not how it is. (If you’re) any little bit behind your teammate, it’s never good enough. I realised … no one really expects me to be beating him now.”
Fast-forward a year and with a renewed passion for the sport, Ricciardo landed a seat at Red Bull’s sister team, Visa Cash App RB. The 34-year-old found a second life in the blue and white, which will see him lining up against new teammate Yuki Tsunoda for 2024 (although not without the admission he’ll be chasing the seat of the underperforming Sergio Perez at the championship-winning Red Bull team).
Ricciardo was one of the stars of the Netflix F1 docu-series Drive to Survive, which also charted his disappointing season with McLaren. Now, as he starts another season, he isn’t harbouring any doubts and has his eyes firmly on the track – and his next victory.
“It’s probably the way I’ve wanted to go racing for a while. I’m now a 100 per cent accountable. This is me going all in. If it works, awesome. If it doesn’t … I look at myself in the mirror and I know that at least I tried and I’ve done it my way.”
Read the full feature in GQ, which will be published in Friday’s edition of The Australian
