After the conclusion of the 2022 F1 season, Daniel Ricciardo decided to sit and take a break for the very next season. However, after a break of about eight months, the Australian driver made his comeback in AlphaTauri. But, while he was with Red Bull as their reserve driver, he revealed to Rokt what convinced him to join the sport 12 years ago.
Ricciardo finally made his return to the grid ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix after AlphaTauri decided to sack Nyck de Vries. The Red Bull hierarchy decided to bring the Australian driver back to the fold after the Honey Badger put up a good show during the Pirelli testing following the conclusion of the British Grand Prix.
After his return, the 34-year-old was decent with his performances. He was able to impress the bosses even after he spent quite a bit of time outside of the sport. All of this was possible due to his sheer confidence in himself, which he recently talked about 12 years after he chose his career.
Ricciardo’s belief in himself
Ricciardo was part of an interview session with Rokt, a partner of Red Bull, in July this year. In the interview, Craig Galvin, the Chief Revenue Officer of Rokt asked the Honey Badger about his confidence in life upon this return to the grid.
Answering this, the Australian driver said, “I mean, the simple answer is like believing in myself, but believe comes then through it’s like a process of doing.”
Following this, he added, “When I got to F1, I was like, okay, like this is amazing, but I don’t know if I belong here. Then I would do some great races and then belief would come from that, I was like, oh wow, I can do it. I do belong here. I can race against these guys.”
Admittedly, the 34-year-old began his F1 career in 2011 with HRT-Cosworth, where he qualified at the last position. In the race, he finished in P19, but it was not long until he found footing, and therefore, went to Toro Rosso [current AlphaTauri] and then to Red Bull.
Ricciardo is a big advocate of mental health
Daniel Ricciardo has always been a great advocate of mental health. He believes that everyone should open up to talk about their mental issues, and they should be happy to do so.
During his Renault days, the Honey Badger opened up about his own struggles. He spoke on how he manages to deal with them and why it is so important to be open about them during Renault UK’s Mental Health Champions.
Furthermore, he also said as per GP Blog, “Nobody really knows what the other person is going through and it’s important to not judge a book by its cover.” All in all, Daniel Ricciardo might be the cheeriest guy on the grid, but also at the same time, he knows how to manage his internal thoughts and emotions.
