Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 return has been the most-talked-about moment at the Hungarian GP. The driver finally gets a second shot at glory as he returns to the track; while also proving that no talent was lost during his hiatus. However, one would think that before his big return, Ricciardo would have a special ritual, a calming night, and maybe some training. But it was Patrick Mahomes and the ‘Quarterback’ Crew that prepped Ricciardo for his big return.
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While Ricciardo had already set the benchmark with his impressive performance at the Silverstone test, doing the same on the track with competition around him was a whole different ball game. However, he proved himself all over again, giving the slowest team on the grid their best qualifying result in the last 5 races.
Eying the Red Bull seat, Ricciardo has already made a mark when it counts. On the other hand, the man he wants to overthrow, Sergio Perez continues to struggle. The mentality Ricciardo brought to the track was truly incredible. And he has Pat Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota to thank.
Patrick Mahomes makes an impact
Taking a leaf out of the Drive to Survive playbook, Quarterback, co-produced by Peyton Manning, follows the day-to-day life of three QBs in different acts of their career. An inspiring documentary with a roller coaster of emotions, it is no surprise that NFL fanatic Daniel Ricciardo chose to line this up ahead of his momentous F1 return.
As reported by PlanetF1, Ricciardo shared a glimpse into his night before the Hungarian GP weekend. Devoid of nerves, Ricciardo revealed, “I fell asleep actually pretty well. I’m watching Quarterback at the moment – it’s really good – [and] I probably watched one episode too much, so I probably should have gone to bed a little earlier. But I slept pretty good.”
Explaining the influence that the show had on him, the Bills fan explained: “I like that stuff, because watching that as well it kind of made me feel ready to go, so it’s good.”
This isn’t the first time Ricciardo credited Patrick Mahomes as inspiration. Witnessing the Kansas City QB lift the Lombardy trophy was enough to convince Ricciardo to take a leap of faith.
Daniel Ricciardo takes the plunge thanks to Mahomes
Confessing that watching the Superbowl reignited the fire within him, Ricciardo sat in the State Farm Stadium and the energy brought by the Chiefs and Mahomes convinced him that he was not ready to give up on his F1 career just yet.
“Being in a competitive environment- obviously, I wasn’t competing… But feeling that sport, and being there… that moment… That was where I started to get some of those feelings back.”
And it was a feeling he couldn’t shake off, or quite describe. “I could feel a lot of it. I was like yeah, this feeling hasn’t gone yet. That competition- that ‘oh I would love to be under the lights and compete right now.’ That was certainly a moment where it all started to turn around I guess.”
And that career-rerouting moment eventually saw Ricciardo return to the grid after 6 months. There is new life breathed into the driver, and if that’s watching the NFL, when the season starts, the Honey Badger would have returned.
