Just a few weeks ago Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 career looked dead in the water. Then he re-emerged as a contender to replace Sergio Perez mid-season at Red Bull, which is the reason he was brought back into the fold in the first place.
F1 can be a funny old business, and a veteran Ricciardo has seen most sides of it.
“It is a funny business,” he grins in agreement as Motorsport.com catches up with him in Spa.
“And having the time off last year allowed me to come back into this business, and just handle these things much better. I laugh about it a little bit. I weirdly enjoy it.
“Is it a bit stressful? Yes. But you know what? it’s a crazy world, it’s a crazy sport, and it’s fun to be a part of it.
“There is pressure on a lot of us and there are moments where we’re going to have to see if we can withstand that pressure. And that’s something I’m excited to see if I can do.”
Podium: Race winner Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sutton Images
Ricciardo has first-hand experience with Red Bull’s pressure cooker alongside Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. And given the travails of those who tried to replace him, the Australian’s original Red Bull stint – including seven of his eight grand prix wins – looks ever more impressive in hindsight.
However, the 35-year-old has also experienced the opposite scenario, most notably his failure to make things work at McLaren.
As he dug deeper and deeper to adapt his driving style to a car he couldn’t get to grips with, he was slowly swallowed up by a maelstrom of his own making.
After two years flailing alongside Lando Norris – other than that magical afternoon in Monza where he led a McLaren 1-2 as Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton tangled – Ricciardo was finally put out of his misery.
And following that bruising experience that robbed him on his enthusiasm for F1, Ricciardo faced the existential question of whether he not he had the stomach to return to the series that was so all-consuming that it devoured him the first time.
But return he did, after Red Bull’s Christian Horner handed him a lifeline and a test at Silverstone last July convinced Horner that the old Honey Badger that won seven races for him was still in there somewhere.
Marshals repair the barriers and deal with the damaged car of Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri AT04
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
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