Former Perth-born Formula 1 ace Daniel Ricciardo has made a frank admission about the end of his career in the sport after opening up about his unceremonious exit.
The eight-time Grand Prix winner’s career was cut short after the Singapore round in 2024, having been dumped by McLaren and then struggling to make the most of his second chance at Racing Bulls.
And while Ricciardo always felt he still had what it takes to be one of the fastest drivers in the world, he revealed that in hindsight, having someone else make the call on his future came as a relief.
“Being let go twice in the last few years, it had taken a lot out of me,” he told DRIVE with Jim Farley.
“I had put a lot of my soul into it, and I did feel pretty exhausted by it. In reflection, I was grateful that they made the decision for me. I think it would have been hard to be like ‘I’m done’.”
Ricciardo said his struggles at McLaren to match the pace of his younger teammate and current world champion, Lando Norris, began to raise doubts.
After he was let go by the Papaya, who he won an Italian Grand Prix with at Monza, he signed a deal to return to the team he had the most success with, Red Bull, to be a reserve, before being parachuted back into a seat with Racing Bulls.
However, barely a handful of races into his comeback, a crash at Zandvoort saw him injure his hand and allow young Kiwi Liam Lawson to impress while he recovered.
“I definitely had to try and understand a lot over the last 12 months about the career coming to an end,” Ricciardo said.
“You know you aren’t really going to get it back – once it is gone, it’s gone for the most part. So, ’22 I struggled a lot (in) my second year at McLaren, so they let me go. ’23 I started without a seat, and that was like, ‘Is this maybe it? Do I call it now?’
“But I knew there was still some burning desire in me… That’s where I really needed to try and look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘Okay, forget what the people say. What do you want?’
“I tried to make it as personal as possible, but there are still opinions- your parents or whatever- but ultimately I did my best to make sure there was still that fire inside my gut. So, I got back into the seat halfway through the (2023) season, and I got a drive.
“Second or third race in, I broke my hand and it was such a nothing accident, but I missed however many races. I think I was out for 10 weeks or something.
“I’ve never really hurt myself racing all these years, and I have a silly crash, and is this a bit of a sign? Should I quit while I’m ahead, really?
“(After the crash) there was still unfinished business, so I pushed through it, and I lasted another year in F1 and then ultimately got let go.”
The West Australian, who is now a Global Ambassador for the Ford Racing division, also said he felt he lost something in his final years behind the wheel.
“I knew it was becoming harder for me and I had to dig really deep to pull out a result that I was proud of,” he said.
“I knew it was harder for me to perform at that level. Like (Fernando) Alonso, these guys are in their 40s in F1, competing very highly. For whatever reason, I lost a little bit of something, and it is okay to admit it; it is fine.
“(In my) last year, so my retirement year, I gave myself a lot of time to reflect on my career, to be at peace with it.”
