Daniel Ricciardo terms his early McLaren exit 'a blessing in disguise'

Daniel Ricciardo feels that the unpleasant situation at McLaren that led to his early exit was a blessing in disguise for him. The Australian has had a rollercoaster of a stint in F1 ever since he left Red Bull at the end of the 2018 F1 season. From that point onwards, Ricciardo spent two years at Renault.

He had a strong season with the French squad in 2020 where he scored multiple podiums with the team but then moved to McLaren in 2021. Daniel Ricciardo was expected to be the lead driver within the team but that didn't pan out exactly as he would have hoped. He was quite convincingly outperformed by Lando Norris which led to his early departure from the team in 2022.

Since then, Daniel Ricciardo has signed with Red Bull as a reserve driver for 2023. He was moved to AlphaTauri as a replacement for Nyck de Vries mid-season and will be racing for the sister team this season alongside Yuki Tsunoda. Talking to the French edition of Motorsport.com, a rejuvenated Ricciardo felt that the departure from McLaren was a blessing in disguise for him. He said:

“As unpleasant as the situation at McLaren was, it was a blessing in disguise. Let’s just say they ended my contract because I needed to take a step back to find myself, find my love again and find my hunger again. I think a lot of things were a bit hurt or bruised, like my willpower and motivation. So I needed to rediscover them and this period of rest allowed me to do that.”

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Daniel Ricciardo reflects on the time away from the sport

Talking about his time away from the sport, Daniel Ricciardo said that there was a lot that went through his head when things were not going his way. Some time away from F1 gave him the breather he needed to reassess himself and get back his love for the sport. In the same interview, he said:

“When you’re going through something, obviously it can change you a bit and give you a different perspective, or make you appreciate the good times more and understand how to deal with the bad."

He added:

“When you’re in the doldrums, you realise what’s important to you and what’s not. I think you learn a lot about yourself from all this. And I think when I came out of it, I realised that I still really loved this sport, that I still believed in myself."

Daniel Ricciardo is in contention for a seat at Red Bull as a potential replacement for Sergio Perez. A lot will depend on how his 2024 F1 season unravels vis-à-vis Yuki Tsunoda.