“Don’t Think I’ve Ever Seen That Before”- Daniel Ricciardo Reveals When He Realized His F1 Chapter Was Ending

Daniel Ricciardo lost out on his F1 seat for 2023 midway into last year’s campaign and approached the last few races as if they were his last. Ricciardo, who made his F1 debut in 2011, wanted to make the most out of every single Grand Prix and reveals an incident where he realized his F1 chapter was coming to a close.

Ricciardo was driving his car around the streets of Singapore during free practice ahead of the Grand Prix when he took a moment to look around. Even though he had raced in the Marina Bay Street Circuit on several occasions before, it was the first time he truly noticed the towering skyscrapers surrounding the track.

“I Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, I mean from the car,” Ricciardo says in the Eff Won podcast. The Singapore GP took place after Ricciardo’s F1 exit was already confirmed by McLaren, so looking at his surroundings, he wanted to take everything in, being unsure about when he was going to race in these tracks again.

Daniel Ricciardo on how F1 drivers don’t notice their surroundings

In the Eff Won podcast session, Ricciardo was talking about the upcoming Azerbaijan GP and the challenging Baku Street Circuit. The castle section, which involves a narrow twisty layout, came up, to which the hosts asked Ricciardo if he ever felt nervous while driving through that part of the track.

Ricciardo revealed that when the drivers are locked in and focused during a race, they don’t really notice the outside components near a circuit. As a result, even though the layout was narrow, surrounded by medieval castles, Ricciardo never really took much notice of it.

Taking the Monaco Circuit as an example, Ricciardo says, “It’s literally just tunnel vision. You’re so locked in that you’re not really aware of what else is going on.”

Ricciardo still has a fire inside him

In his last few races with McLaren, a part of Ricciardo kept telling him that his days in F1 are probably numbered. However, he is currently happy with where he is because he realized that he still has the fire.

Of course, Ricciardo acknowledges the fact that he doesn’t have an F1 contract for 2024, meaning he will likely spend the year on the sidelines. Regardless, he is sure that his chapter is definitely not closing, and that there is more to come.

Currently, Ricciardo is at Red Bull, where he is the third driver behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. The honey badger is carrying out his testing and simulator duties in addition to appearing for marketing and commercial events.