SmallSoldier wrote: ↑09 Aug 2021, 01:32
Interview with Daniel in Motorsport:
The McLaren driver told his story in a long exclusive interview granted to Motorsport.com, addressing the issue of the difficulties he is experiencing, but also of his future, which he sees still long in Formula 1.
The Covid protocols, strictly respected in the Formula 1 paddock, still do not allow the media access to the teams' hospitality. The appointment is therefore in the paddock, and Daniel Ricciardo, right on time, looks for a suitable place for a chat: "Since you're Italian, and I'm a bit Italian too, let's sit here in the sun".
The Hungarian heat is suffocating, but for half an hour "Ricchiardo", as he puts it in English, makes you forget that you are almost in a sauna. Daniel doesn't hide, he talks about the difficulties he's experiencing at McLaren, about living together with Lando Norris, about an approach with Ferrari that hasn't been followed up, and about a future whose contours are still not defined. He speaks English, but when he gets to the key point of a speech, he adds a word in Italian to underline the concept.
However, there is one aspect that is not exclusive to the thirty-two year old from Perth, but that he manifests in the clearest way: the awareness of being lucky, someone who has made it. The next round of the 2021 World Championship, at Spa, will be his 200th Grand Prix, an important goal that Ricciardo will cross with seven victories and thirty-one podiums to his credit, but above all with the same smile that he showed off at Silverstone on July 10, 2011, the date of his first race in Formula 1, held with the HRT team. "Who knows how long it will take the Formula 1 system to remove that expression from his face," many said, but the prophecy proved wrong. Ricciardo, ten years later, is still him.
The exams in life never end, right?
"That's right, just like that."
Let's take a step back: but weren't these single-seaters drivable by anyone?
"Too bad the people who say these things are never people who drive them."
This year there has been a lot of talk about 'feeling', what a driver needs to find with the single-seater to be able to squeeze out all the technical potential. Can you explain what this is in concrete terms?
"It's a feeling, or a set of feelings. It's something we feel in the back, in the shoulders, in the hands, a driver is physically tied to the single-seater, he moves with it, it's no coincidence that we use the expression that you are one with the car. So, whatever the single-seater does, a driver feels it through his body, and if the sensation that arrives is unfamiliar then it becomes difficult to react in the right way. Coming to my feeling with the single-seater I'm driving this season, I simply feel different sensations, in some cases even completely new to me, and I'm really giving my best to try to feel comfortable in this new situation. But, especially at the beginning of the year, my reaction when I felt new sensations was to get defensive, and this certainly doesn't help the performance".
We know that every driver in Formula 1 can compare his data with that of his teammate. From the outside it would be easy to think 'okay, I'll see what he does, then I'll go back on track and do the same', but we know it doesn't work like that...
"No, theoretically you could see it that way, but the reality is different. Just when you see the data, and you realize that your teammate is doing something different, you visualize in your mind that situation on the track and you know right away that you can't do that. In my case, I'm sure if I faced some situations like Lando I would have to brake or I would end up spinning, and we go back to the previous question. Every driver has a style, a little bit unique, personal, and even if you set the car the same way as your teammate, you don't get the same result, because we are all a little bit different. It's complicated, because these cars are complicated."
This question may not please you, but this year seeing you lapped in Monaco by your teammate seemed like a surreal circumstance. Daniel Ricciardo lapped on the Monte Carlo circuit...
"Eh yes (laughs), and a little bit it is. It was very difficult, I knew the engineers would try to explain to me why I wasn't as fast as Lando, but I felt that the car didn't allow me to do that. I didn't want to sound too stubborn and send the message that I'm the best in Monaco, but I wanted to understand what to do to get myself out of that situation, it's hard to accept such a difference in performance, I know what I'm capable of. And as many people know, Monaco is my favorite track, the one I love the most, this year's will remain a very strange weekend to remember."
Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
"It's getting better, I'm starting to see it but there's still work to be done. We managed to make a good step forward, you know, in sports you are not always patient, you want everything and you want it today, you get greedy. But in my case I'll have to be a little more patient, I know there are still some steps to complete, the Silverstone weekend was one of those steps."
What is your opinion on the Silverstone incident between Max and Lewis? You know them both well...
"Basically it was a race incident. In that situation I gave a little bit more responsibility to Lewis, because I saw that Max left enough space, so I don't think he did anything wrong. But this episode is part of a season that has seen them at loggerheads already other times, and I thought that sooner or later a more important contact would come, it's racing, and when you confront yourself with such small margins, we are not robots and we make mistakes, even if in the case of Silverstone it was a violent incident. But I don't want to blame Lewis, it's racing, it's those two are fighting for the championship, which is the biggest goal there is in this sport."
You've been Max's partner and now Lando's. Two young guys but apparently with very different personalities. Do you confirm?
"Yes, I think they are actually very different personalities, but both of them on the track have great 'pure' speed. I can see that with Lando this year, but maybe it's a little early to compare him and Max. But he's certainly very good too."
Looks like you'll be celebrating 200 Grand Prix in Formula 1 at Spa!
"I'm old f..o! (exclaims in Italian)".
But you're ten years younger than Kimi, I think we'll be seeing you here for a long time to come....
"You know, it depends on so many factors. In this sport I've always considered myself a winner, so if I found myself constantly out of the points and without the right team behind me I'd probably say 'Alright, my time here is over, goodbye'. But at the moment I think I'll be here for a few more years, and as I approach the 200th Grand Prix I'm happy with what I'm seeing, because getting to Formula 1 is the hardest thing for a driver to achieve, but staying there is not easy either. So I'm proud of my path, I would have obviously liked a World title but I'm happy and satisfied with the choices I made. Then, in terms of the future, we'll see what's in store for me.
Speaking of the past. There's a question that's been buried for three years, and it's about the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix, one of your last races with Red Bull. On that weekend we saw at the end of qualifying one of the happiest Ricciardo ever, while twenty-four hours your face was the portrait of disappointment, not only sporting. Let's start from Saturday, that is when you got the pole position and Helmut Marko didn't seem exactly happy with your exploit that took away the best time but Max...
"You know, I was aware of a few things, but I tried not to pay too much attention to them. I've never been a negative mindset person."
Is that one of your strengths?
"I think so. Because if you start thinking too much you end up overcomplicating things, and I just wanted to focus on working on the track. Going back to Mexico, I knew that if Max got pole that weekend he would become the youngest poleman ever, so he would get a record for himself but also for Red Bull, and that's something that's good for the brand, for the team, for the advertising and for sure it brings revenue. So, considering these aspects, I understood the situation and I didn't get angry. I said to myself 'okay, this is business', and we know that Formula 1 is a sport but at the same time it's also a business field".
You were really happy with that pole, then...
"Yes, very pleased with myself, because the year before in Mexico Max had trimmed me a second, it had been a strange weekend. Even in 2018 it started like that, but then in Q3, at the right moment, I placed the paw, and being able to do it confirmed the confidence I had in myself. But then the next day was...so: there are not many situations, in sport as in life, in which in the space of twenty-four hours you go from being the top in the world to...well, it's hard to handle a situation like that. I'm passionate, sometimes I'm emotional and...I assure you that it's hard to handle a disappointment like that".
If you talk to every team and every driver in the paddock, everyone has high expectations for 2022, everyone is hoping to make a splash and have a car that can win...
"It's a hope, but I don't want to believe it blindly, because if then the reality will be another I don't want a lack of motivation to come. I hope that the field closes, that the margins between the teams can be smaller, I think we will still have Mercedes and Red Bull in front, but if we can all run closer, I think it will be good news, not only for me."
