The moment that stands out most for Daniel Ricciardo from his return to Formula 1 this year was when he got “some metal in my hand” after breaking a bone when he crash practice for the Dutch Grand Prix.
But most of his other memories of his seven-and-a-half weekends at AlphaTauri are more positive. Ricciardo was called up in mid-season to replace the underperforming Nyck de Vries, only to need a substitute of his own after injuring himself.
The crash aside, Ricciardo said his comeback was a happy one on the whole, after he ended 2022 lacking confidence (and a seat) after a trying season with McLaren.
“When I look back on this year it’s a year I never would have expected in so many ways,” he said. “I didn’t expect to be racing at all, let alone going through everything else.
“So it’s something that I’m definitely happy about, the place I am and what I feel inside my heart. Ultimately, I’m really in a happy place and I’m happy being here racing again.”
His disrupted return meant he went into the winter break eager to carry on racing. “It’s probably the first off-season that I would not really want an off-season,” he admitted. “I want to keep racing and keep a bit of the flow going, but also the thought of having a little bit of a break and getting myself prepared for next year, that excites me as well.”
Ricciardo has applied maximum focus to his return, putting “all my energy into this”, rather than dovetailing F1 with extracurricular commitments as he has done in previous seasons.
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“I’ve definitely cut back on a lot of things outside of racing,” he explained. “For sure I still have some other interests outside of the sport which I’m involved in and I enjoy, but I’ve minimised a lot.”
The growing schedule – the 2024 F1 calendar features a record 24 races – means it is more important than ever to minimise distractions, he says.
“I’m really trying to make sure that – I think it always has been – but to obviously make the racing the priority. Especially with the calendar now and the schedule, if I’ve got some time off then I’m either in the gym or I’m putting my feet up and recovering for the next race.”
The time Ricciardo spent outside of competition made him realise he had taken too much on at times in the past.
“There’s so much going on and there’s so many things that you can be doing…
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