“It’s close to 20 months”– Daniel Ricciardo gets to end his exile; returns to his country Australia for first time since 2020

Tanish Chachra | 23/12/2021
"It's close to 20 months"– Daniel Ricciardo gets to end his exile; returns to his country Australia for first time since 2020

Daniel Ricciardo returns to his home after 20 months of exile as COVID-19 forced Australia to have one of the most stringest lockdowns.

Daniel Ricciardo for the last 20 months didn’t visit his home. However, in the gap between Abu Dhabi GP and the rise of Omicron variant, he has managed to reach his homeland.

Fir the 32-year-old race driver, it has been an overwhelming to even think about visiting home. Talking about going back to Australia before flying, Ricciardo shared his feelings.

“I counted. By the time I get home, it’s close to 20 months. Close to 20 months! It’s like 19 and a half or something. That’s made this year more difficult as well. The lows are lower because you don’t have that… I’ve got family support in McLaren, but I don’t have my family family.

“Even if it’s not like to put an arm around me, it’s like, ‘Let’s get away for the weekend. Let’s just go and do something and let’s switch off for a bit’. Even a family can provide a really nice escape. That’s been tough, for sure.”

Also read: Honda reveals its best moments with McLaren and Red Bull as it takes a sabbatical from Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo to shed tears

Revealing how usually his mother is one to cry upon his return every year, Ricciardo claims even he will get teary-eyed upon his return home. He claims that it is about losing time with the loved ones.

“Everyone can relate. We’re not kids anymore, we’re adults, and you get older and naturally, your family gets older. Every year that passes is one more year that you kind of miss out. Even with nieces and nephews, it’s a year that I’ve missed them growing up.”

“So I do hold that stuff close to me, for sure. This job is tough as it is being away from loved ones. So I think it will be quite emotional, but it will obviously be really nice.”

Also read: McLaren predicts a three-four horse race for the championship next season

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
Daniel Ricciardo McLaren

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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