Ricciardo explains his 'lone wolf' approach towards F1 comeback

F1

Daniel Ricciardo now returns to the team where it started for him in F1, in search of redemption – however, the Aussie explains he's taking a different approach on his GP comeback

Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 2023 Hungarian GP

Will Ricciardo be able to pull off a fairytale return?

AlphaTauri

The year is 2014. A young Aussie, in the midst of a breakthrough season in F1 after earning a promotion from Toro Rosso, sits fourth on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix for Red Bull – his trademark grin brimming with confidence.

70 laps later – battling through rain and pulling off one show-stopping overtake after another – Daniel Ricciardo scored the second grand prix victory of his young career. The brilliant performance had the makings of a future world champion in the eyes of many.

But almost a decade afterwards, that same driver – by the end of last year drained of any self-assurance following an underwhelming stint at Renault and dire stretch at McLaren – now finds himself back were he started, returning to the grid after an eight-month hiatus to join a struggling AlphaTauri team – known best for hosting Red Bull junior drivers, not accomplished grand prix race winners.

“I could kind of see myself last year, as an example, that I was lacking,” Ricciardo admitted in a press conference ahead of the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. “I knew it at the time, but you know, you see things a bit more clearly, probably with hindsight as well. Just kind of lacking a little bit of that confidence.”

Daniel Ricciardo with headphones on

Ricciardo found the going tough at McLaren

Grand Prix Photo

Although his performance compared to his former McLaren team-mate Lando Norris certainly supported the statement – only out-racing the Brit four times over the course of the season when both cars finished – it still sounded strange to hear, especially from Ricciardo. But it seems a return to the Red Bull family, formerly acting as its third driver after his departure from McLaren, has lifted his spirits and he’s keen on “doing things differently” this time around.

“I always said, if I ever came back to the sport, I wanted to do things a little differently,” he said now that his trainer and friend Michael Italiano works with team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. “I wanted to find that self motivation and make sure that it came from me. So all the training, the mindset, all of it. I wanted to get back into the sport, because it’s truly what my heart desires. So I’ve been doing it myself this year, and I’ve got the answers I wanted.

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“I’m flying solo – I’m a lone wolf.”

Of course, the Aussie’s return will be a challenge, with AlphaTauri’s AT04 proving to be a hard car to handle, and the team currently sat at the bottom of the constructors’ standings. But even with a potential return to Red Bull looming in 2025, Ricciardo is more focused on enjoying his return and taking one race at a time, instead of throwing his hat back to the front of the grid.

“Getting an opportunity again inside the Red Bull family is something I’m really appreciative of. So that’s really where my head is at. Just trying to enjoy it. I’m sure we’ll have some work to do. But I’m not going to solve every problem this weekend. So it’s really just about getting back into the race weekend and finding the flow.

“The team has changed a lot in the last ten years since I was last here. So it feels like a new team and a fresh environment. But I feel like we have both evolved, and I’m starting this next phase with a very fresh page.”

A tyre test with Pirelli acted as the audition for Ricciardo’s long-awaited return to the grid, getting behind the wheel of the currently unbeaten RB19 and posting “highly competitive” lap times around the Silverstone circuit. Previously, the Aussie had been limited to time on the simulator and had initially struggled to readapt to a Red Bull car – team boss Christian Horner revealing that he had “picked up some bad habits” from other teams.

Ricciardo AlphaTauri

Ricciardo in an Red Bull junior race suit has a strange familiarity to it…

But as he gradually improved, jumping back in a real car was the final obstacle he had to overcome, before deciding on a full scale return.

“It was a pleasure to drive,” said Ricciardo. “I think the really nice thing was that, once I shook off the cobwebs, although the car is different from five years ago, it still felt for me like a Red Bull Car. I felt like everything that I used to really like about the car was still existing in the DNA and and then I think that as well filled me with some confidence that I could start to drive the way the way that I like or the way I want.

“The last box I had to trick was driving the real car to make sure that I could do it on track. The tests went well and we’re now in a good place.

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