"He’s got enough money"- Daniel Ricciardo has lost the 'need' to remain in F1, hints former driver

Daniel Ricciardo's motivation to be in F1 was recently questioned by David Coulthard in an interview. Speaking about the Australian and his future, Coulthard cast doubt on Daniel Ricciardo's 'need' to be in F1.

The former racer said:

“I hope that wherever he ends up, assuming he ends up in Formula 1, that he will rediscover his mojo. But for me, I think it’s as simple as that, I don’t think drivers lose the speed, whatever age they are, it’s they lose the need."

He further added:

"And I just wonder whether for whatever reason, Daniel’s found a place in his life where he’s got enough money to not have to worry about that going forward, whether he’s just lost that raw, youthful hunger that he had when he first arrived in the sport. These guys arrive earlier, so they tend to be retiring earlier. [Like] Seb [Vettel], 35 years old, so it’s pretty young to be hanging up your helmet. Daniel is 33.”

Coulthard also touched on how Daniel Ricciardo's form was supposed to improve with the regulation change.

He said:

“We hoped that 2022 regulation change was going to bring Daniel into a window where he was comparable to Lando. And it’s really been the biggest surprise to me, given he’s an eight-time grand prix winner, quality racer. But I think it highlights just how strong Lando is as a racer, and potential world champion of the future, that Daniel just hasn’t matched him."

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Daniel Ricciardo in a positive mood after a productive first day

Daniel Ricciardo was in a positive mood after the first day of the F1 Dutch GP. The Australian's FP2 was cut short due to an oil leak but the McLaren looked rapid around the track. Looking back at the day, Ricciardo was quite positive as he said:

"It was nice to be back on the track, it's a good time for sure. It was fun. Unfortunately, we lost a bit of track time due to an oil leak in FP2, however looking at Lando's pace, it was promising. We made a few changes for FP2 and it looks like that's worked, so we'll have confidence going in that direction overnight. It's just a case of putting the lap together, which I'm confident of tomorrow. All in all, I think it was a good day for the team and we'll just clean it up tonight."

Ricciardo's future has been in contention for some time now and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes for him.