“Nothing Makes Sense Anymore”: Daniel Ricciardo’s Unhealthy Italian Addiction Which Made Him Lighter

F1 drivers often highlight how physically demanding the sport is. Maintaining a strict diet is of paramount importance, mainly because they need to keep their weight in check. However, during the recently concluded Italian GP weekend, Daniel Ricciardo let it all go. The honey badger devoured five pizzas in the span of two days.

Surprisingly, Ricciardo didn’t gain any weight. In fact, he weighed lighter than he had in the previous two weeks and even performed better than usual in Monza leading up to the race.

Ricciardo, who has struggled to beat his teammate Yuki Tsunoda on most race weekends, finished qualifying four places ahead of the Japanese driver. He was almost half a second quicker and missed the cut to Q3 by six-hundredths of a second. This was after he ate three whole pizzas the day before qualifying, and then another two on the day itself.

“I’m at five. Five pizzas in two days. I couldn’t go three back to back,” said Ricciardo. “I felt so sick after night one. But, do you know what’s weird? I weighed in light today.” 

Ricciardo then revealed that he was a ‘kilo’ lighter than he was at the Dutch GP weekend. Jokingly, he labeled pizza as the solution to weight loss. “I don’t know. It’s weird. Nothing makes sense anymore.”

Ricciardo loves Monza. He won the race there in 2021 and enjoys the racing, the iconic circuit, and the passionate fans who add to the excitement of the Italian GP. But mostly, the Aussie loves the food. In an earlier interview, he said, “Most importantly, the pizza is something special.” 

Unfortunately, the pizza-induced good form didn’t carry over to the race. It was a tough day for Ricciardo’s team RB, as the Perth-born driver finished P13, and Tsunoda was forced to retire early in the race.