Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on how he overcame what the Australian described as the “most challenging year” of his career while speaking ahead of qualifying at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Ricciardo finished the second practice session in P14 with Lando Norris just behind in P15 as the Australian’s struggles at McLaren continued.
It has been a tough year for Ricciardo, who admitted in an interview with The Daily Mail ahead of this week’s race that he was not his normal “bubbly self” as results slipped.
Audi get partner for 2026 F1 play | 00:27
“My confidence was being eaten away driving a car that wouldn’t dance with me and would bite back,” Ricciardo said.
“Whenever we thought we found a solution, along would come another set of challenges. When you put so much into something and it doesn’t work out, there is sadness. It gets to you.
“Last year it affected me a little bit too much. I wouldn’t be my usual bubbly self.
I would be reluctant if someone said let’s go out for dinner. I would need some cajoling. I let it get to me.
“I started to speak to a psychologist last year, the most challenging year I have had.”
Ricciardo will have a fresh start next year, with the Australian expected to take up a reserve driver role either at Mercedes or Red Bull.
It comes after McLaren’s decision to axe Ricciardo earlier this year, something which the 33-year-old admits came as a surprise.
“It is fair to say it was unexpected, given I was on a three-year deal that had a year to run,” he said.
“It is not something you can prepare for. But I’d already had some honest discussions with Andreas (Seidel, team principal) and Zak (Brown, chief executive) earlier in the year to see what we could do to improve things.
“It was a concern on both sides.”
Qualifying disappointment for Ricciardo | 01:24
In other news, having set the pace with a leading time of 1.19.970, Mercedes’ George Russell is hoping he and teammate Lewis Hamilton can continue their success in qualifying.
“I’d like to think it’s definitely [a] podium [that’s] possible, at least. It’s probably one of, if not our best Friday of the year,” Russell told the Formula 1’s official website when asked of his expectations for the weekend.
“Between the two of us [Russell and team mate Lewis Hamilton], we’ve got 14 podiums [so far this season], so that’s absolutely what we’ll be going for. But not having the normal FP2 running, where you get to understand the long run, the consecutive laps of your rivals, it’s going to be difficult to know.”
Hamilton finished the day in fourth and having settled for second place at the United States Grand Prix, he too is also keen to potentially shoot for top spot this weekend.
“I feel good… I feel really, really good,” he said.
“I generally had a really good session today. I really enjoyed driving around the track. The car is feeling better and better as we work more through it, and we understand it more.”
The second practice session was red flagged twice after Charles Leclerc ran into trouble, with a heavy crash seeing his car left damaged at the rear-end.
Leclerc though did not seem too worried about the damage impacting his chances ahead of qualifying and Monday morning’s race.
“I don’t think any of it will compromise us,” he said.
“I think we have enough [parts] now with all the penalties we’ve had in the past, so it should be fine.”
Follow all the action with the live blog below! Can’t see it? Click here!
