“It actually felt really right,” Daniel Ricciardo gives a key insight on his time spent away off track after parting ways with McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo feels his time away from F1 has helped him immensely in recharging his batteries.

“It actually felt really right,” Daniel Ricciardo gives a key insight on his time spent away off track after parting ways with McLaren

Daniel Ricciardo (Credits: Motorsport)

Daniel Ricciardo, the Red Bull F1 team’s third driver, has recently talked about the time that he spent away from the pinnacle of motor racing, after the end of the 2022 F1 season. He believes that time away from the sport has really helped him in getting his spirits up after a disappointing time he spent at the Woking-based McLaren F1 team.

Daniel Ricciardo while talking about his time off said, “Pretty much straight off the last race [Abu Dhabi, 2022] I went straight home to Oz and stayed there for nearly two months. That was the longest I’ve been [home] for a while. Then I kind of just had a bit of fun; I went to the States, did the Super Bowl which was really cool, got my American fix, and then it was to the UK simulator and some marketing days there with the team.”

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“Then I was home in Monaco for a few weeks, and that’s when it was really just to have some time to myself, I was in my apartment and didn’t really have any plans or commitments, I was kind of 14 days to myself. That’s when I started just to get a little bit of that vibe back inside and started lifting a few weights and feel better about myself.”

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“Last weekend, I was in Vegas for my friend’s bachelor’s do. Even stuff like that, I’m enjoying those little things this year; a week before my home race, when would I ever be in Vegas!? It nearly feels wrong but it actually felt really right being able to do something like that.” Looking at the comments of Daniel Ricciardo, it is quite safe to say that he has really enjoyed his time away from F1.

He has been able to fully recharge his batteries and is ready to give his all in his new role at the Milton-Keynes-based Red Bull F1 team. Ricciardo being the third driver on the team, has got a lot of simulator work and other marketing duties to do during the whole 2023 campaign of the Red Bull F1 team. He has got a busy schedule ahead, despite not racing this year.

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Would Daniel Ricciardo be able to secure a seat at Red Bull?

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo

As things stand on the Red Bull F1 team, Max Verstappen is contracted to the team until the end of the 2028 F1 season whereas Sergio Perez has got a deal in place until 2024. Daniel Ricciardo wants to get back into F1 as soon as possible and in case things don’t turn out well for Perez in the upcoming years, then there certainly would be a chance for Ricciardo to get a racing seat at Red Bull.

Moreover, Ricciardo was recently asked to dwell on his F1 prospects, and he said, “Just trying to get that balance and kind of get that fix this year, and ultimately just recharge. If I am to come back next year, just to feel like I’m coming in with a lot of intensity and a lot of purpose.” Daniel Ricciardo wants to get in the best shape possible physically and mentally in order to get back to racing in F1.

Considering how unpredictable F1 is, and the shenanigans that take place around the second seat and Red Bull every now and then, do you believe that Daniel Ricciardo would soon be able to make a racing comeback at the pinnacle of motor racing? Or do you think that his spell with McLaren was most probably his last in F1?

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