Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on his struggles at McLaren and explained how at times, he was not a good person to be around. The 33-year-old seemed to have lost himself at the British outfit as from fighting for podiums and wins previously at Red Bull and Renault. He was suddenly fighting just to get into the points.
Speaking of his torrid spell at McLaren, Ricciardo told The Athletic, “The bad days would then flow into my weeks. Then I would have bad days as normal days when I’m not at the track. I was just not a good person at times to be around.”
Ricciardo decided to end his McLaren deal prematurely to take time off to recover
According to the Athletic, only Daniel Ricciardo had the luxury to terminate his deal with McLaren as per the contract terms. Despite having another year remaining on his deal, the Australian chose to exit McLaren early as he wanted time off to recover.
His struggles at McLaren had dented his self-confidence and had left him in a spot where he began to doubt himself. Hence, he took time off and distanced himself from training and the competitive nature of Formula 1.
The report from the Athletic adds that Ricciardo was so hurt that he did not even plan to work out for a few weeks after the season ended in Abu Dhabi last year. It was only when he spent some time alone in Monaco that he felt the hunger coming back to get back on track.
Why was Daniel Ricciardo’s stint at McLaren so painful?
Daniel Ricciardo’s stint at McLaren was arguably not so painful because he fought incredibly hard to score points at every race, but because of how far behind he found himself to his inexperienced teammate Lando Norris. While the Australian’s first season may just be a one-off poor campaign, his second season was nothing short of a disaster.
In his first season in 2021, Ricciardo finished eighth in the world championship with 115 points, just 35 points behind Norris. However, in his second season in 2022, the 33-year-old scored 37 points and finished 85 points behind his teammate.
Hence, following such a poor season, Ricciardo will now hope to use his time off to rejuvenate and hope that an opening comes up for the 2024 grid. Since he now just finds himself with a reserve driver role at Red Bull, he will need to ensure that he keeps himself in shape to make the most of an opportunity if one does come up.
