Just a few weeks ago Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career looked dead in the water. Then he re-emerged as a contender to replace Sergio Perez mid-season at Red Bull, which is the reason he was brought back into the fold in the first place.
F1 can be a funny old business, and a veteran Ricciardo has seen most sides of it.
“It is a funny business,” he grins in agreement as Motorsport.com catches up with him in Spa.
“And having the time off last year allowed me to come back into this business, and just handle these things much better. I laugh about it a little bit. I weirdly enjoy it.
“Is it a bit stressful? Yes. But you know what? it’s a crazy world, it’s a crazy sport, and it’s fun to be a part of it.
“There is pressure on a lot of us and there are moments where we’re going to have to see if we can withstand that pressure. And that’s something I’m excited to see if I can do.”
Podium: Race winner Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sutton Images
Ricciardo has first-hand experience with Red Bull’s pressure cooker alongside Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. And given the travails of those who tried to replace him, the Australian’s original Red Bull stint – including seven of his eight grand prix wins – looks ever more impressive in hindsight.
However, the 35-year-old has also experienced the opposite scenario, most notably his failure to make things work at McLaren.
As he dug deeper and deeper to adapt his driving style to a car he couldn’t get to grips with, he was slowly swallowed up by a maelstrom of his own making.
After two years flailing alongside Lando Norris – other than that magical afternoon in Monza where he led a McLaren 1-2 as Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton tangled – Ricciardo was finally put out of his misery.
And following that bruising experience that robbed him on his enthusiasm for F1, Ricciardo faced the existential question of whether he not he had the stomach to return to the series that was so all-consuming that it devoured him the first time.
But return he did, after Red Bull’s Christian Horner handed him a lifeline and a test at Silverstone last July convinced Horner that the old Honey Badger that won seven races for him was still in there somewhere.
Marshals repair the barriers and deal with the damaged car of Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
After a hand injury in Zandvoort derailed his comeback at Red Bull’s satellite AlphaTauri team – now RB – Ricciardo started afresh in 2024 with the benefit of a full pre-season to prove he belongs in Perez’s seat.
But as team-mate Yuki Tsunoda hit scintillating form to stake a Red Bull claim of his own, Ricciardo found it harder to hit his stride in the VCARB01. More often than not Tsunoda had the upper hand in qualifying, enabling the Japanese to rack up 22 points compared to 12 for Ricciardo.
Ricciardo commanded a chassis change in Shanghai which proved a turning point, excelling with a fourth place in the Miami sprint and fifth in Canadian GP qualifying, and he is slowly showing the necessary consistency that Red Bull and RB needed to see.
“We’ve certainly had a bit of a different tempo this season,” Ricciardo says. “I think Yuki hasn’t really had as many lows, his levels have been strong from really start to finish and it took me a little bit to find it.
“Obviously, the chassis change in China is where my year started to show a little bit more promise. But from that point on, I definitely felt a little bit more at one with a car and I started getting a little bit of that belief back.
“To still have the speed, that’s been really critical. And now it’s just making sure that I can extract it more often, which I have done, but of course I always want more out of myself.”
At his lowest ebb, questions arose over whether he was doomed to repeat his McLaren downfall.
Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
But as frustrated as Ricciardo was with his lack of results, the gloominess that punctuated his McLaren stint was absent this time around.
For a man who already thought his F1 career was finished 18 months ago, there is nothing left to fear.
“It’s not like I have an ‘I don’t care’ approach, but my perspective is that all this now is a bonus because I really thought at the end of 2022 maybe I would never race Formula 1 again,” he explains.
“So, to have this second chance, if there is going to be some pressure then okay, let’s take it on. Nothing can really hurt me anymore.
“I can’t control anything that’s going to happen. I can control what happens on track. I don’t even take it race by race. I take it session by session.”
It was recently confirmed Ricciardo will be staying with RB for the remainder of the season, missing out on Red Bull promotion for now, but also avoiding an early replacement by reserve driver Liam Lawson who looks likely to make the grid in 2025.
Daniel Ricciardo, Visa Cash App RB F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
That call has now been pushed back towards the end of the season, but if 2024 turns out Ricciardo’s last season in Formula 1, he won’t look back with regrets.
“I still feel so hungry and motivated, so of course I would be sad, because I feel like I’ve still got more to give. I put myself back in a really good place,” he says when asked how he would feel if 2024 is the end of the road for him.
“So, it would be sad, but I would definitely take it from a place of gratitude as well, and I think that’s where my perspective can help sometimes.
“Look, I’m grateful that I had the time I had, and I was able to drive a car that won races. I’ve had a more than 10-year career in a sport I know many can only dream of.
“I would probably go to bed with that thought. But inside, I feel like I’m not ready.”