“I had some good self therapy after Monaco”: Daniel Ricciardo candidly opens up about his struggles and taking ‘accountability’

Daniel Ricciardo claims self reflecting on off-track commitments after struggles in the 2024 season. Speaking to onsite media in Canada, the Australian reckoned that it took some introspection to reenergise himself for the weekend in Montreal.

Reflecting on his past performances, Daniel Ricciardo admitted it was easier for him to find the sweet spot in the car compared to recent years. His struggles were evident in his McLaren years but in RB it has been mixed. He believes that it was important to examine if there were activities off track that depleted his energy levels at a race weekend. He feels it took a wider understanding an approach to be more accountable for his lows, despite the confidence in his abilities to deliver.

Explaining the self reflection period between the disappointing result in Monaco and Canada, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Yeah its been harder for me to find that sweet spot this year. Then I look back at ten years ago, its been effortless. But I think its just, after Monaco I tried to just understand, I always looking the on track stuff, I can brake a little later, do this and that. But I looked into whats the other things that are reflecting in my performances. Am I coming into a race weekend not feeling energised, not feeling this or that. I think I just had some good self therapy after Monaco.”

Explaining the self therapy process, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Just sat back and had to look at maybe the things I'm doing wrong away from the track or maybe giving my too much of my time to people and by the time I get to race day or something I'm a little bit more flat. Because I know it's in me. So as I said we're always going to be trying to fine -tune the car but deep down I know what I can can do and it's just making sure that I'm in this spot to be able to do it more often. So trying to take as much accountability as possible and yeah just think a little bit broader.”

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Daniel Ricciardo claims having an honest open conversation with RB team after Monaco

Daniel Ricciardo claimed having an open conversation for constructive feedback on his performances with his team including Laurent Mekies after the Monaco GP. He believes the conversation has reenergised him to perform better and silence his critics. Faster than his teammates in all the sessions in Canada, the 34 year old managed a fifth place in the qualifying. Nevertheless, he believes that there has been reenergised motivation to convert the qualifying into a lucrative result. He reckons frank conversations and analysis into his weekends has helped him come into the Canadian weekend in a better mood.

Asked what he has lacked on Sundays to convert the qualifying into a good result, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Yes, I mean, I was very after Monaco because it was, yeah, a weekend where I was a bit down, probably emotionally after, not obviously doing well on a track that I obviously love. And yeah, basically just everyone around me, you know, the team, engineers, my inner circle as well, just like, guys, like open book, constructive criticism, give it to me. What do you think I can clean up? Where do you feel I'm maybe missing something? And so yeah, a lot of it was kind of just probably management, like energy management over the course of the weekend.”

“So it's not even what I'm doing in the car. It's just what gets me into the car feeling like I'm fucking ready to go. So I was just trying to clean up some of those things and if there was anything on my minds try to just get it off my chest and yeah got into this weekend certainly feeling a little lighter, hungry and happy and ready to say fuck you.”

Asked if the conversation was a way of asserting his ways to the team, Daniel Ricciardo said:

“Yeah I mean after Monaco like after the debrief I stayed back for a little bit and yeah it was just because I mean I feel like under Laurent and that everyone's very good like we're pretty open with each other. But I wanted to make sure that there was nothing that they saw they needed to unload. I just basically wanted to know like ‘what do you guys think is going wrong you know tell me what you if there's something you see from me I want to try and fix it’.”

“But ‘I'll also tell you guys what I feel and maybe why I do feel a little bit flat or you know maybe the schedule's a bit too much at the moment or whatever’. So we just had a very open chat and it was It was great because I also want to give them the comfort to tell me straight. I'm nearly 35, I don't need too many more pats on the back. I would rather people just be very direct with me and yeah, I felt like it was just productive and that continued through the week after.”

Daniel Ricciardo has currently scored only five points for the RB team whereas his younger teammate Yuki Tsunoda has scored 19. Known for his late braking style, the Montreal circuit has always brought the best out of the driver. His current qualifying place is the best he has qualified in 2024 for the main race, barring his fourth place qualifying at the sprint in Miami.

Yet to sign a contract for the 2025 season, the Aussie is in a race against time to turn his season around. His current performance came on a day ten years after he won the Canadian GP in 2014. It was the first victory of his career, with his last one being in 2021 at Monza with McLaren. Daniel Ricciardo still remains the highest qualifier for the RB team in 2023 and 2024, with a fourth place in Mexico last season and a fifth place in Canada.