Daniel Ricciardo stands as one of the most unique drivers on the current F1 grid owing to his free-willing nature. While most drivers seem to have gone through extensive media training with their teams, the Australian driver acts as a breath of fresh air, owing to his loud and unapologetic nature in front of the cameras. As a result, he is often part of some very hilarious pranks.
Appearing as a guest in the latest interview conducted by Noel Miller on his YouTube channel, the 34-year-old admitted to being a “sh*thead,” which stands as one of the most prominent reasons for his behavior in front of the cameras. Furthermore, Ricciardo added he was always mischievous as a kid and carries the trait with him to this day.
“I was always like a little bit of a sh*thead. So, I was like cheeky and immature as a kid. So I always had that little bit of mischief and whatever. But I think the more interviews you do as well as the more you just feel comfortable doing it, then you feel like you can be yourself. “
The AlphaTauri driver added he wants his true personality to come out in the front and doesn’t want to come off as “too robotic” or stiff. As such, he even ends up becoming a part of pranks, where unsuspecting fans become innocent targets.
An example of the same comes whenever Ricciardo encounters fans who are unsure whether it is really him. They come up to him to clarify their doubt, and the driver acts like they offended him somehow. Ricciardo sometimes swears at them to further elevate his performances, leaving the fans confused over what just happened with them.
Daniel Ricciardo once detailed the reason behind his fun-loving attitude
Back in 2018, Ricciardo issued an open letter through The Players’ Tribune where he pointed out the significance of his fun-loving attitude and his cheeky nature. The former Red Bull driver said he loves to laugh and to have fun in everything he does.
He added when he’s old and wants to feel young again- he would like to open up his Wikipedia page and see it say a few special things. The foremost would be to see it read that he was a world champion driver at least once. Next, he would want to see a whole section dedicated to the name ‘Honey Badger.’
Finally, the Australian wants to be remembered as someone who changed the sport somehow, and he had fun while driving fair and hard, leaving a mark on the sport. Ricciardo hopes his antics can inspire young kids hoping to make it big in F1 to be themselves. They can be “badass,” have fun in what they do, and still be really good at it.
