Daniel Ricciardo is one of the most popular F1 drivers on the grid and has become a household name among fans of the sport. Ricciardo started his career at HRT in 2011 while still a Red Bull junior and got a seat at Toro Rosso the next year.
After spending a couple of years at Toro Rosso, Ricciardo joined Red Bull in what turned out to be the most fruitful stint of his career. In his five seasons with the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, Ricciardo won seven races but decided to leave after the 2018 season in search of a new challenge.
Ricciardo joined Renault but his two years with the French team were underwhelming which prompted him to switch to McLaren. Unfortunately for him, his time in Woking turned out to be a nightmare, and he was sacked from the team in 2022 despite having a year left on his contract.
Life in F1 is tough if one isn’t consistent enough as Ricciardo found out, but the Aussie spoke about driving in F1 itself can be cruel and painful at times.
Nothing can prepare drivers for F1, says Daniel Ricciardo
F1 is a sport that is extremely physically demanding. Drivers need to be in peak physical condition to be at the top of their game in Formula 1, but even then, it is grueling. In a talk show, Ricciardo spoke about his early F1 days and how tough it was for him.
The Perth-born driver was adamant that nothing can really prepare a driver for F1 and he had to learn the hard way. He spoke about how it was ‘pain and misery’ for him, but he had to keep on driving.
He went on to say that driving becomes difficult because of the strong g-forces and of him losing his sight. These were times when he even wished for a mechanical failure, so that the ‘pain’ would stop.
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Ricciardo’s Red Bull homecoming
When Ricciardo lost out on his McLaren seat with seven races to go in the 2022 season, he made it clear that he wouldn’t be staying in F1 just for the sake of it. He wanted to drive for a top team, and since the available seats (Haas and Williams) didn’t offer him that, he decided to take a break.
Ricciardo wanted to take a break, but not lose touch with F1. Therefore, he decided to return to Red Bull as a third driver behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. He even admitted that he’s looking forward to not racing in F1 as a full-time driver after a long time.
However, the 33-year-old will have one eye out for Perez’s Red Bull seat, since the Mexican’s contract runs out at the end of the 2024 campaign.
