By Ian Parkes
The past two years have been extremely painful for Daniel Ricciardo.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 20, Ricciardo will leave his team, McLaren. In August, his three-year contract was terminated with a season to go.
Daniel Ricciardo is close to the end of his time on the F1 grid – for now.Credit:Getty Images
“I believe I’m very resilient, but I’m also not superhuman,” Ricciardo said in an interview. “Of course, I feel pain and hurt and disappointment. So, yes, it’s been tough.
“Through all that, if anything, I’ve built more resilience, so I feel prepared for what’s to come, but I don’t want to endure this again, another season, because, at some point, you need to make a change and pick yourself back up.”
In 2020, before a season affected by the coronavirus pandemic had started, McLaren signed Ricciardo, who was preparing for a second season with Renault, for 2021.
The move seemed justified. Ricciardo finished fifth in the drivers’ standings, including a third-place showing in the Eifel Grand Prix in Germany, which was Renault’s first finish on the podium in nine years.
Since joining McLaren in 2021, Ricciardo’s career has spiralled. Aside from a victory in last year’s Italian Grand Prix, his eighth in Formula One after seven with Red Bull, he has been unable to get comfortable with his car. It is time to take a break.
“I want enough distance from the sport just to let me reset and rebuild a bit,” said Ricciardo, who has become a star on Netflix’s Drive to Survive. “Obviously, the last two years have been challenging, but I still love it, and I still believe in myself.
“But I know I just need a little bit of time to myself to keep that fire. It’s the right time to do that. I know not many drivers have done it in the past, but what I know of myself, it will actually be really good for me.”
Ricciardo will probably be a reserve driver for another team, probably Mercedes, whose reserves, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, are changing teams for 2023.
Daniel Ricciardo in action in his McLaren during F1 practice at the Brazilian Grand Prix.Credit:Getty Images
“For us, we very much like him, he’s a great character,” team principal Toto Wolff said of Ricciardo. “He’s been around for a long time. He knows these cars inside out, and that can be really advantageous.”
At 33, Ricciardo, an Australian, is a bit old for a position normally reserved for up-and-coming drivers, but he sees it as a steppingstone.
“I wouldn’t have said this a few years ago, but I look at Fernando, I look at Lewis, and I’m like, ‘OK, if I still put the effort in, I can still do it in my mid-30s, no problem,’ ” Ricciardo said, referring to Fernando Alonso of Alpine, who is 41, and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who is 37. “It’s about forcing myself to miss it a little bit as well. When you’re racing every weekend, you don’t really miss it, but I know that I’m sure when I see the lights go out in wherever it is and I’m not on the grid, I’ll be like ‘Oh.’ It’s to build the fire. All these things I could use to my advantage.”
After McLaren confirmed Ricciardo’s exit, he received support from a number of his rivals, including Hamilton.
“I still think he deserves a place here in the sport, so I really hope there is somewhere great for him because he has still got lots to achieve,” Hamilton said.
Ricciardo said it was nice to be valued and respected. “With Lewis and Alonso, we’ve all put over a decade into Formula One, and we’ve all gone through highs and lows, so you can relate and have a little bit of empathy for someone,” he said. “I also know people will have their opinions, telling me I’m crazy to take a year off, that I have to stay active and racing, but that’s where I back myself because I know with a little bit of time off, it’ll be the best thing for me.”
After finishing eighth in last year’s drivers’ standings, 45 points behind teammate Lando Norris, this season has been worse for Ricciardo. With two races remaining, he has 35 points, with Norris 76 ahead.
In August, team principal Andreas Seidl said McLaren and Ricciardo “couldn’t find the magic” to make their relationship work. Seidl said Ricciardo “will be deeply missed”.
“Wherever he is next, that team or employer will get a great driver and a great personality.”
Ricciardo said he had to dig deep over the past two years to maintain a smile that has become his trademark.
“I’ve consciously changed a few things from last year,” he said. “The on-track struggles were playing into my everyday life, and I was a little less upbeat, letting things weigh on me too much. Not in a deep way, but I wasn’t being the awesome bubbly version of myself, but I found awareness in just separating the on-track stuff to off-track. I was like, if this is now going to affect my everyday life, then that’s not healthy. I still needed to enjoy myself, to live my life.”
Ricciardo said that this year had been his worst performance-wise but that a year on the sidelines would help.
“If I get an opportunity in 2024,” he said, “I’ll be a rejuvenated Danny Ricciardo: someone who didn’t lose the belief but who just needed to find his way again.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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