"My happiness doesn't revolve around a world title": Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo feels age and maturity have changed his outlook on things and a lack of silverware does not amount to as much frustration as it used to earlier.

The Australian is one of the more lovable characters on the Formula 1 grid today. Now in his thirties, Daniel Ricciardo, despite being considered one of the best drivers on the grid, has never fought for the championship.

Speaking to Tom Clarkson on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Daniel Ricciardo said:

"There was a time where I was a little bit bitter, like, 'I should have had a title by now, this sucks, why don't I, wrong place, wrong time', or this or that. But maybe that's the growth in me or the maturity where I don't think that anymore. I'm still here because I believe I can win a title, and I want to win a title. But I'm at peace with whatever happens, as long as I go out and leave it all on the track, I'll get fulfilment."

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My time at McLaren was not a failure without a title win: Daniel Ricciardo

Reflecting further, Daniel Ricciardo took the example of his time at McLaren and how he wanted to do things to the fullest without worrying about the outcome. He said:

"Say I'm at McLaren for five years, and we don't get a title, I don't want to look back on the five years as a failure. Because then it's like, 'OK, that's five years of my life that I'm just flushing down the toilet'. Five years of your life is a lot of time."

Explaining how he had reached a stage in his life where happiness was no longer determined by the number of titles he had won during his career, the 32-year-old said:

"That's maybe the mindset switch that I've made. Don't get me wrong, it has not made me any softer or less driven or less motivated. But I want to enjoy my time here in the sport. The goal is to be a world champion, and I think that is why I will wake up every morning with the desire to do this. But I don't want that to dictate my whole happiness."

While he did win the Italian Grand Prix this year, Daniel Ricciardo has been largely outshined by his teammate Lando Norris, 11 years his junior. But the Australian feels the win at Monza was the highlight of his year. He said:

"I've been doing this 10 years. I'm not a world champion yet, so there's no guarantee it will happen. I just don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and then be miserable for the rest of my life because I haven't done it. Winning in Monza was probably all I needed to give me all the happiness in 2021. That also proved that you can get so much from not just the world title."

Daniel Ricciardo is currently eighth in the drivers standings with six races to go in the 2022 calendar, while teammate Norris is in fourth. McLaren have been the "best of the rest", currently in third place, narrowly ahead of Ferrari by 7.5 points.