Daniel Ricciardo details how his ‘shame’ of an injury at Zandvoort never made him question his career choice to make F1 comeback

Despite a season with lots of ups and downs for Daniel Ricciardo, he never thought of quitting the sport.

Daniel Ricciardo details how his ‘shame’ of an injury at Zandvoort never made him question his career choice to make F1 comeback

Daniel Ricciardo (via IMAGO)

The Australian Daniel Ricciardo suffered a season of massive ups and downs this time around. The 34-year-old was a reserve driver for Red Bull at first after which he replaced the rookie Nyck De Vries in AlphaTauri. Shortly after joining the grid, he suffered an arm injury, leading to his absence from five races once more.

Daniel Ricciardo traced back to the entire season and commented over it. He commented that this season was one of the strangest seasons for him and in a season where he didn’t expect much to happen, happened. Additionally, Ricciardo added that this year was the testament to his question if he really wanted to continue in the sport for any longer.

It's been the strangest of season's for sure, but I think in a year where I didn't think I would race a lot has happened. Even though I've raced, I still haven't raced much. It was just important for me this year to get my answer, to really find out if they truly wanted to keep doing this and just also to get that confidence in myself again.
Daniel Ricciardo said, as reported by racingnews365.com.
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However, after sustaining a serious injury, people started questioning his existence in the sport, they claimed that maybe it was time for him to quit the sport altogether. Regardless of the comments, the honey badger never resonated with what the fans said and remained hopeful.

The season was a moment of Reflection for Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo’s condition in 2023 was similar to Mika Hakkinen who went on a ‘sabbatical’ and never returned. This break for Ricciardo was a moment of reflection according to him. He took a long break in the winter break and did not have any winter testing or schedules.

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo (via IMAGO)

Additionally, Ricciardo claimed that he switched off mentally from racing and spent two months not doing much. After the break, he felt rejuvenated and felt like doing some training and hence got into a really good rhythm to get back into F1.

Since Ricciardo has been confirmed with AlphaTauri for the next season, he needs to get his head back in the game and score good results. The Honey Badger is definitely an asset to the sport not only with his Jolly attitude but also his racing knowledge.

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