Daniel Ricciardo is having a poor season. So far has finished at ten only once at the home race in Australia. However, this isn’t the first year struggling, as he also did last season after joining McLaren.
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The 32-year-old was one of the best young talents in the sport and was a potential world champion. But after not being able to win the championship at Red Bull, the Aussie decided to move to Renault. However, the move to the French constructor wasn’t much help either. So he moved to McLaren.
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Ricciardo joined the Papaya outfit in the hopes of lifting the world championship. But his big move to McLaren didn’t go as planned as he struggled against his young teammate Lando Norris. The poor performance led Ricciardo to question his decisions.
“I wrestled a lot last year with the questions of, like, Was this the right call, in terms of moving teams again? Why isn’t it clicking? Is there something holding me back that I’m not aware of?” He said, “I suddenly feel some fear: Am I not willing to risk it anymore? Like, what’s going on?”
Why did Daniel Ricciardo go to LA instead of Monaco for vacation last season?
It is known to F1 fans that Monaco is the favorite location for Formula One drivers to spend time during vacation. Even the Honey Badger spends most of his vacation either at his home in Australia or Monaco. However, Ricciardo refused both of these locations last season and went to Los Angeles instead.
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Daniel was so ashamed of his poor form that he didn’t want to run into other drivers. Further, he wanted to spend some time alone and shift his mind from driving. Ricciardo reported, “I just completely switched off. Like, I didn’t think about racing. And I tried to just have some real me time, and I tried to just get back to basics.”
McLaren F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo in action during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix practice REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The Aussie began the 2022 season, hoping to showcase a significant performance. But that hasn’t been the case as he only scored 11 points so far in the drivers’ standings. The McLaren duo complained about struggling with the 2022 car, MCL36. However, it showcased outstanding performance on tracks like Melbourne and Imola circuit. However, he had to retire from Imola GP after a collision with Carlos Sainz.
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Ricciardo and his team need to understand each other more to finish more in the top 10. Undoubtedly, Ricciardo is one of the best drivers, but he needs to pull up his socks. It would be fascinating to see how Ricciardo performs in Spain this week.
