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Daniel Ricciardo claims the AlphaTauri opportunity turned up at the last minute and reminded him of the first time he landed a seat at Red Bull. Speaking in an Optus interview on LinkedIn, the Australian felt that the opportunity to race again in 2023 was a reminder of some of the curveballs Red Bull threw at him.
Returning to the 2023 grid at the Hungarian GP to replace Nyck De Vries, Daniel Ricciardo made a decent comeback with AlphaTauri. The 34-year-old was loaned by Red Bull to their sister team. He has now been retained for another year by them until the end of the 2024 season. According to the Australian, the opportunity to get back on the grid came sooner than expected.
Asked about dealing with the change, Daniel Ricciardo said:
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“The AlphaTauri seat came up very last minute. You know I, part of me knows I like being back in the Red Bull family. I known they can throw these call it curveballs at you. So I try to remind myself to stay on my toes and be ready just in case. But yeah, I didn’t think it was going to come maybe that soon. But I was like you know what? Like what the hell, this is where ultimately I want to be. I wanted to be back on the grid and I was so happy being back in the Red Bull family, that it was an opportunity that I didn’t want to miss.”
“So I kind of just used all that as, all right, well this is it. Like it reminded me of when I started my career and when Red Bull would kind of throw the kitchen sink at me and yeah embracing the challenge and yeah, call it the chaos or the pressure or the moment. But yeah I had six months which was much more slower and calmer than I was ever used in the last probably 15, 20 years. So I was also excited to have that, that like spike of action again in my life.”
Daniel Ricciardo believes sticking to his gut instinct was the biggest lesson he learnt in 2023
Reflecting upon the 2023 season, Daniel Ricciardo feels taking a break and sticking to his gut instinct helped him get the answers he wanted. Six months off from sport helped him reset for the next chapter. He believes one of the things he learned was to silence external chatter and opinions and to believe in his own inner self.
The Visa Cashapp RB driver is now set for his first full season after a hiatus from the sport in 2023. Despite his return, his hand injury from the accident in Zandvoort allowed him to complete only six races. Speaking in an Optus interview on LinkedIn, Daniel Ricciardo reflected upon the lessons learnt in 2023, saying:
“The biggest lesson I learnt this season is probably like don’t let the noise in, you know. I think that that is, that kind of came in many forms. But I think the first one I think of is a lot of people were, I think very worried about me sitting out. About me not racing at the start of the season and oh but you know, you might never get that opportunity again, and there was a lot of fear around that. But deep down I knew that I just wasn’t ready to fully commit, you know from the state of the season, and I wouldn’t have done myself or the people around me justice.”
“Yeah, it was a risk but I knew I needed that time off and I’m just proud that I like stuck to it and went against a little bit of the norm. Like its not that common. So yeah I think just kind of trusting my gut, my instinct and deep down knowing that it was right for me and I guess I had faith that I would get my answer, you know, by making this decision and it’ll all work out and things all happen, I guess for a reason. So yeah, just sticking to that really.”
As Red Bull prepared for the launch of the RB20, Daniel Ricciardo was in the VCARB01 doing shakedown laps. After regaining confidence in his abilities in the limited run in 2023, his seventh place result was the highlight that propelled his team from last to eighth in the constructor’s championship. With a revamped structure and new partners, the Faenza-based squad are aiming to lead the pack in 2024 and close the gap in performance between them and their sister team.
