“Is It Worth the Risk?”: Daniel Ricciardo Exposed His Vulnerability Amid Growing Pressure to Perform

With F1 being the apex of motorsport, drivers are always under immense pressure to perform if they want to keep their seats. But this was particularly true for Daniel Ricciardo when Red Bull gave him a second chance at their sister team, Racing Bulls.

The Australian, who returned to the sport midseason in 2023 after having been sacked by McLaren post a disappointing 2022 campaign, returned with the intention of auditioning for that second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen. However, little did he know that his performances would be so poor that Racing Bulls would have to sack him midseason last year.

With him already having failed to meet expectations once, he revealed at some point during last season that he had been reconsidering his time in the sport and whether it was worth putting it all on the line with the hope that he would land a seat at Red Bull, which was no guarantee.

However, a dream return to Red Bull never came to fruition as he was sacked by RB after the Singapore GP weekend.

Breaking: Daniel Ricciardo will leave RB with immediate effect, the team announced. pic.twitter.com/95w9Fwyjrv

— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) September 26, 2024

“Like ultimately, is it worth the risk, you know,” he had said in an interview with Netflix’s Drive to Survive production team in Episode 8 of the series. Doubts creeping into the mind of an F1 driver usually spell the end of their career as there is no room for them, with drivers needing to be 100% committed.

Was Ricciardo always heading for the exit doors at Red Bull?

Ricciardo did not have the full backing of the hierarchy at Red Bull. The behind-the-scenes footage captured by Netflix shows that team advisor Helmut Marko was never really considering giving the Honey Badger a second shot at the main team. The Austrian likened his return to the team akin to a Netflix script.

“Well, the Netflix story is not working. That Ricciardo will come out of his bad stretch and get into Red Bull Racing. That’s the story Netflix had planned. And that’s not working out,” Marko said while talking to RB CEO Peter Bayer.

By the end of the season, both Ricciardo and the man he was touted to replace, Sergio Perez, lost their seats. However, this allowed the likes of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar the opportunity to prove their worth at the pinnacle of motorsport as rookies this season. Lawson will drive for Red Bull while Hadjar will drive for Racing Bulls.