‘I know F1 is serious, but we can still make it fun’ – Ricciardo reacts to his best career moments

Daniel Ricciardo brought an energy to F1 that the sport had never quite witnessed before, adding a sense of joy and humour that delighted both those in the paddock and at home. But more importantly, he was a determined, ruthless competitor who clinched eight Grand Prix victories across stints at Red Bull and McLaren.

Two years have passed since the Australian left the sport, so he recently took the time to relive his greatest highlights and offer unprecedented insight into his career in an exclusive interview…

Ricciardo’s first victory

In his first season with Red Bull, Ricciardo had stood on the podium twice before securing his maiden victory at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix. Starting from sixth on the grid, he steadily worked his way up and benefitted from Lewis Hamilton’s retirement to bring himself into contention in the race’s final stages.

Decisive moves on Sergio Perez and Nico Rosberg over the last few laps sealed the win for Ricciardo, and all he could get out over the radio was a chuckle and “wow!”.

“I didn't really know what to say,” he explained. “I think it was such a young laugh of shock and joy. I mean, the first emotion is – I don't know, is nostalgia an emotion? It feels so familiar, but also so long ago. I'm also just very grateful to have been able to experience this feeling. That's the highest high in the sport. Beyond that is to win a World Championship.

“For many years, I didn't feel like my career was a success because the World Championship was something that I was so fixed on and believed in. But I think now looking back, I'm like, okay, this was pretty awesome to still be able to get these moments.”

When his maiden pole position led to heartbreak in Monaco

Ricciardo already had three victories under his belt when he took his long-awaited maiden pole position and established himself as something of a Monaco specialist.

“That was a good lap,” he summarised. “I remember that. That was a good car as well. Monaco is special. There was definitely a good chunk of my career that I felt like I had an edge in Monaco.

“I had two poles in three years there. It didn't feel like a big deal because I was so high on confidence and that belief in myself – not in an arrogant way, just it didn't even feel like a big deal. It was like, yeah, this is my track.

“I was an intense young human being. [There was a] certain period of time where I felt untouchable on those streets. I just felt like I was willing to take more risks and I was very happy to get my first pole, but I was nearly angry that I hadn't got it sooner. That's why I was like, now it's my time. I was running very high on confidence.

“I couldn't do that today, but I can still take myself there and remember the feeling. I know why I was able to do it. Sometimes it does feel a little bit out of body. I think in those moments, maybe I was someone else.”

After beating Mercedes to the top spot around the Monte Carlo streets, he led the race in wet conditions and opted for a different strategy to Hamilton, switching from full wet tyres, to intermediates, and finally to slicks.

But when he peeled into the pits for his final stop, the Red Bull crew were equipped with the wrong compound, forcing Ricciardo to wait whilst they scrambled for the correct tyres. That allowed Hamilton to demote him to P2, and despite his best efforts to regain first place, he finished 7.252s behind the Briton.

“I left hardly anything on the table,” Ricciardo admitted. “There were certainly some years there that I didn't have that level of confidence and it went from being the best track for me to one of the worst, just like that.

“I think at the end of the day, what it was is they reacted to Lewis and what he did. I think they changed at the last second what to do. In simple terms, it's like they forgot the basics – control your controllables. I think there was panic and it was a mess. That was definitely one of my worst days in F1. I think if I never won Monaco after that, it would still hurt me a lot more.”

Redemption in Monaco

Two seasons later, Ricciardo took the Monaco win he deserved, albeit not in the most straightforward of ways. He had the advantage of starting from pole, but suffered a power loss for the majority of the 2018 event that made holding off Sebastian Vettel even more difficult.

“I had a very wounded car,” he explained. “At that moment, some of my lack of knowledge with the way Formula 1 cars work and how an engine works and those hybrid engines and all of this… I didn't really know what the problem was. I probably should have known, but if I knew, I think it would have made me realise how much worse it was.

“F1 cars have eight gears. In Monaco, because it's a shorter straight, you don't really even get to eight. So you're already just using seven gears. With that problem, I was only using six, so I had so much less power.

“I was telling the team and they were just giving me instructions like move your brakes forward or do this or do that. It was just problem solving. They weren't really giving me the script on what the problem was.”

While Ricciardo’s triumph overshadowed the painful memories from 2016 – and led to his iconic celebration in the Red Bull swimming pool – it came at the end of a day filled with anxiety and dread for the Australian.

He said: “I don't have 100 wins. I had eight, so they're all very special. But yes, more was on that than 2016. I think getting another chance to win Monaco made the pressure even higher.

“I just wanted it to be over. I wasn't looking forward to the race. I wasn't excited about anything. I was just like, I've hardly slept. Everyone's coming up to me, wishing me luck and trying to give me advice. I just want to go hide and get this race done and hopefully win and then go drink!

“The drivers that had won in Monaco that had raced with Red Bull had done flips into the pool. I was like, look, I'm probably going to embarrass myself. It's already been done. What's something that feels me? What feels kind of goofy? One of my favourite movies is Me, Myself and Irene. I love Jim Carrey.

“There's a scene where he leaps off a bridge and I feel like the way I did it, it was my memory of how he did it in that film. I was like, this will feel silly. I'm kind of laughing at myself doing a belly flop. A bit like the shoey, I didn't think it would be that cool at the time and it ended up being probably the most beautiful thing ever in F1!”

It became just as memorable as his shoey celebration, which involved drinking champagne out of his race boot to “show Australia that I'm proud to be Australian”. Other drivers and celebrities were convinced to join in, including Hamilton, Max Verstappen and acclaimed actor Sir Patrick Stewart.

“There was definitely a conscious part of it where the sport was still very serious,” Ricciardo described. “I would sometimes see drivers on the podium and they looked kind of miserable, and I couldn't really understand why. I get it if you lose the race on the last lap and you finish second instead of first, but there's just a lot of situations where I was like, the sport feels a little stiff.

“That was also my way of trying to bring in something else to the sport. It felt like the tie was choking everyone, and I was like, let's just undo a button here and relax a little. Then it just became my thing.

“I weirdly became relatable through doing the silly things. I realised it made it more fun for everyone else around me. Look, you have to get results to back it up. There was a time and place still, but I felt like the team appreciated it. I know it's serious and there's a lot of money and business involved in the sport, but we can still make it fun.”

Returning to glory with McLaren

Having left Red Bull in 2018, Ricciardo went on to race for Renault and McLaren, claiming his final race win with the latter at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. After passing his former team mate Verstappen at the start, he beat Lando Norris to give the Woking-based outfit their first victory in nine years.

“I remember hearing the team in the background all celebrating and losing their minds, so that made me really happy,” he concluded. “When you succeed in the sport, everyone in the team feels a part of it. To celebrate it with such a big group of people, it's like a party.

“[It was] a year that I questioned myself a lot and lacked a lot of confidence – I hadn’t won in a few years, and I questioned, will I ever win again? That was a very real question. When it's been so long, you start having doubts as a team and as an organisation.

“For all of us to feel this sense of relief and like, oh my gosh, we do belong here. I knew it was our best chance of getting a podium that year, or my best chance, because I knew the car. We were quick on the straights, and Monza is very much a straight-line circuit.

“I always felt really good in Monza. It was a track I enjoyed, and I felt like myself again. I just had a certain mindset, which brought out a certain inner confidence. Was I thinking [I could] win? No, I was thinking a podium.

“It was my first win with another team, so that was also something I was personally proud of. Probably two months before that, I was very low, extremely low. I was proud of myself to be able to find it within me to pull it off.

“The opposite side of success can feel very lonely, but everyone played a part in winning on that day. Pit stop, strategy, reliability – it all just worked and everyone knows that they did their bit and they helped get that car to cross the line first. Celebrating with the team and seeing everyone smile as big as your own, that's very cool.”

To watch the full exclusive interview, click on the video below or head to the F1 YouTube channel.