Ricciardo reveals key lesson learned from Verstappen which fuels his comeback

A year ago Ricciardo had been axed from Formula 1 by McLaren after two substandard seasons.

Even a return to Red Bull as a third driver caused Christian Horner to comment on “bad habits” that Ricciardo had picked up.

But he will head into 2024 as a full-time F1 driver again with AlphaTauri, with seven rounds of this season under his belt after a mid-season comeback.

“I hope to be a better racing driver,” he told the Beyond The Grid podcast. “That's what I'm working on. 

“Do I still want to be world champion? Yes. Has it been a dream of mine since I was a kid? Yes. 

“But maybe it's just because I've seen Max, or whoever else, and they're still waking up the same person.

“I think you just take a little bit of pressure off it. 

“It's not going to change me as a human. Therefore, it's not going to change my life moving forward. 

“Yes, it will present some other opportunities if you are to achieve such a feat, but I know my mum and dad are going to look at me the same way, whether I'm a world champion or whether I'm not. 

“It's probably a bit of perspective. I still want it and I still deep down believe I can do it, but it's really not going to change the course of my life.”

When Ricciardo lost his McLaren seat, he signalled an intention to step away from the sport and focus on other passions.

He was initially non-committal about a return.

After stepping back initially as Red Bull’s third driver and now full-time with sister team AlphaTauri, Ricciardo has detailed his new mind-set.

“I'm treating it like a second chance to go all in for this last part of my career,” he said.

“There are things that I'm going to do differently to make sure that all my energy is focused on going all in. 

“But then there's also definitely an element of making sure that you're okay after racing, after your career. 

“Especially in sport, you do it from such a young age, you’re not a businessman from five years old. Sport is a very rare career where you can start pursuing it so young that it's been your only purpose in life and it's consumed you and your family as well.

“When it's gone, I know that's where a lot of athletes can struggle with their identity, I guess. Where are they going to get that adrenaline from? Where are they going to get that drive? 

“I'm aware that it's not easy for everyone also to transition to life after sport. I was also curious to know how my life could look and how I would be. 

“I am obviously a positive person and normally just very easy-going. It's not something that I was necessarily concerned about, but you want that comfort of knowing that I'm going to be fine and I can enjoy other things in life.

“Racing is my passion, but it's not everything and it's not the be all and end all.

“I think I got that answer, which was really good. I think it allows me to come back for this second phase with, in a way, less pressure. 

“Deep down I'm going all in and I want to put everything I can into it, but there is part of me which is also a little bit lighter.”

2023 was a remarkable turnaround for Ricciardo.

A hugely impressive test in a Red Bull convinced them to get rid of Nyck de Vries from AlphaTauri and replace him with Ricciardo.

And despite an injury setback, Ricciardo offered glimpses of his undoubted talent in the second half of the year.

He stands a realistic chance of earning the second Red Bull seat, alongside Verstappen again, in 2025.