Daniel Ricciardo needs time away from F1 to be his "best self"
Daniel Ricciardo has revealed his motivation for stepping away from the Formula 1 grid and his potential plans for 2023.
Daniel Ricciardo celebrates after winning the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix with Red Bull. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
In a wide-ranging interview with the Formula 1 Beyond The Grid podcast, the Aussie-on-hiatus covered everything from contract offers for the 2023 season to his grudges against fellow drivers.
Recorded just days after his final race for McLaren, Ricciardo says two words could describe his headspace: "content and relieved."
Content, says Ricciardo: to have made it through the difficult season and taken away good memories; and relieved: to step away from a busy season, to walk away with a tinge of sadness, but also excitement for what's to come.
"returning to the Red Bull family feels right, …feels warm and cozy inside."
- Daniel Ricciardo on his Reserve Driver role with Red Bull. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
Ricciardo mentions he was approached by Haas team principal Guenther Steiner for a possible role with the American team, before entering negotiations with Red Bull and Mercedes for a potential reserve driver role.
"There's something about returning to the Red Bull family that feels right, …feels warm and cozy inside," the Australian coyly admits when discussing his official role for 2023.
Ricciardo says his love of competition itself is what drives him, but also what drove him away from the sport to take time for himself.
"You could call it some burnout."
He also discusses his difficulties at McLaren, potentially for the first time.
Without blaming the team and in a frankly honest conversation, Ricciardo says he feels that it ultimately was a difference between the car and his own style that highlighted gaps in his abilities and raised concerns that both he and the team were over-engineering the driving process as they tried to rectify his issues.
The eight-time race-winner says he is excited to dive into the Red Bull simulator to test his abilities in different machinery, but is adamant that his return will be focused on marketing and a reserved (pardon the pun) role in the paddock, admitting he is unlikely to return until the Australian Grand Prix in late March.
A young Daniel Ricciardo with Red Bull driver Mark Webber. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
As for his plans outside of the world of Formula 1, Ricciardo says he is planning a road trip across America, from New York to Los Angeles, on "a mini motorbike."
He also raises the idea of entering a celebrity boxing event, joking that he was sad when Max Verstappen was fined for a physical altercation with Esteban Ocon in the F1 paddock.
The full episode of Beyond The Grid featuring Daniel Ricciardo is available now - listen below.
