Former Red Bull and McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on his emotional F1 exit in 2024, admitting that the prospect of a return to motorsport \u201cterrifies me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ricciardo remains one of the most recognisable F1 drivers of the modern era having claimed eight victories in 257 grand prix starts between 2011 and 2024.<\/p>\n
Daniel Ricciardo opens up on emotional F1 departure<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n The Australian driver made his final appearance at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix before being replaced by Liam Lawson at the Racing Bulls team for the final six races of that season.<\/p>\n After keeping his distance from the sport for almost 12 months, Ricciardo announced his retirement from motor racing last September, becoming an ambassador for Ford, Red Bull\u2019s F1 2026 engine partner, in the process.<\/p>\n Ricciardo attended Ford\u2019s season-launch event in January in Detroit, where he was reunited with former Red Bull teammate and four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who has adopted the Australian\u2019s former race number \u2013 three \u2013 for F1 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n What happened to Daniel Ricciardo?<\/p>\n What happened to Daniel Ricciardo? The compelling theories to explain his sharp F1 decline<\/a><\/p>\n Daniel Ricciardo: Defining the F1 legacy of the Honey Badger<\/a><\/p>\n In an interview with The Athletic<\/a> ahead of this weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix \u2013 a race won by Ricciardo in 2018 \u2013 the 36-year-old has opened up on the emotions surrounding his F1 departure two years ago.<\/p>\n And he has admitted that the thought of returning to his previous lifestyle leaves him \u201cterrified.\u201d<\/p>\n Ricciardo said: \u201cI was always pretty good at putting on a brave face and letting people know that I was good and happy and everything\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n \u201cBut when everything quieted down and the lights were turned off, I was like: \u2018OK, I need to do some soul searching and make sure that I\u2019m good with all this.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cJumping back into something as well and having another distraction was not going to help me figure out who I was.<\/p>\n \u201c[It] took me a while to figure it out after racing probably who I was and what maybe my purpose was beyond just being a race car driver, so I\u2019d say I\u2019m much closer to being comfortable with that.<\/p>\n \u201cI sit here just more relaxed and the thought of going back into a chaotic sort of lifestyle terrifies me, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n Ricciardo\u2019s final F1 victory occurred at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix at Monza, where he secured McLaren\u2019s first win in nine years by leading home a one-two finish ahead of Lando Norris.<\/p>\n However, the Perth-born driver\u2019s stint at McLaren to an early end at the conclusion of the following season when he was replaced by Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n After spending the first half of 2023 as Red Bull\u2019s reserve driver, Ricciardo returned to a race seat with sister outfit Racing Bulls at that year\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n Having struggled to make an impression alongside Yuki Tsunoda, though, he was dropped by the team in the closing months of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n Ricciardo\u2019s final F1 appearance took place under a cloud of uncertainty in Singapore, with it already an open secret that he would be replaced by Lawson for the last few races of 2024.<\/p>\n Racing Bulls did not officially confirm Ricciardo\u2019s departure until four days after the race.<\/p>\n Ricciardo has admitted that he struggled after his F1 career came to a sudden end, yet conceded that it felt like \u201cthe right time\u201d to leave.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWhen you wake up with really one purpose for so many years, even if it feels like the right time, necessarily, it doesn\u2019t really change the fact that: \u2018Oh, it\u2019s gone, and what do I do now?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cSo much of my life was events and trackside and there\u2019s always a camera around.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always people and I have to put on always a smile and have to be careful what I say and this and that.<\/p>\n \u201cI tried to, obviously, always come across authentic and as myself, but it\u2019s impossible to be 100 per cent that when there is just always eyes on you.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say probably my biggest takeaway from last year is the importance of alone time, because I realised that my life was always surrounded by people and chaos, so to speak, that I kind of lost my own thoughts and ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cI never really had a chance to probably make a decision on my own and I would easily get convinced that something\u2019s the right thing to do, or this or that, because I always have kind of voices around me.<\/p>\n \u201cAlone time, I think, for everyone is important.<\/p>\n \u201cIt also just makes you see: \u2018OK, where am I at with life? What am I chasing? Is that the right thing to be chasing? What do I want? What do I value?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t really ever ask yourself those questions if you\u2019re constantly surrounded by groups of people and everything\u2019s like, fun, fun, fun.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not also real life, which I\u2019ve started to realise.\u201d<\/p>\n Ricciardo\u2019s activities with Ford has seen him promote the US manufacturer\u2019s Raptor T1+ truck, used in competition in off-road events like the Dakar Rally.<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com at the time<\/a>, he teased a potential appearance at the Baja 1000 event after sampling the car in a promotional event last year.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cThe itch for Baja is there, but I\u2019ve got a lot to learn.<\/p>\n \u201cA few more of these events and then ask me next year and we\u2019ll see where I\u2019m at!\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? 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