Let a Formula One layman watch Netflix's docuseries Drive to Survive watch and chances are that Daniel Ricciardo is his or her favourite. The 31-year-old Australian driver is one of the most popular drivers in the paddock and is praised for his directness and openness. Now we see this more with Verstappen and Lando Norris, but before the arrival of the younger generation, Ricciardo was a breath of fresh air among the mostly stiff drivers. After months sitting at home on the family farm in Perth, Ricciardo is in the middle of his final season for Renault. Gentlemen's Watch spoke to him about his switch, #weraceasone and what we should expect from the great F1 revolution in 2022.
We speak to Ricciardo just after his race in Spain in which he finished in 11th place, just outside the points. Far from aiming for another podium finish this year, his last for Renault. Frustrating, but you don't notice it from the affable Australian during the video connection. Still refreshingly down-to-earth and direct.
He doesn't sugarcoat it with empty clichés and talks openly about his frustrations Still correct, but with that typical wide grin we know from his time at Red Bull. What rises above it all is the fun he has driving. Especially now that it took him an extra long time to get back to racing. Getting used to it was not at all. "In my head, it did bother me for a while. To be honest, I had some worries whether riding wouldn't suddenly feel very different or if I would be a bit stiff or even anxious. Fortunately, it was nothing of the sort."
Like getting back on a bike?
(laughs) "Exactly. The experience of that power and speed somehow apparently stays in your system. May as well after all these years!"
How is the season going so far?
"I see good progress and am very happy with the direction we are going. We finished in the first five once and managed to get a top four qualification. I hope, despite the crazy season, I can extend this with better results."
What do you still want to achieve in your final season with Renault?
"A podium, but I've said that so many times, haha. The more often I say this, the more it feels like a disappointment if we don't make it. Still, I hope so and that would make me very happy. A fine end to my time at Renault and a well-deserved satisfaction for the team."
A season with strict COVID-19 rules. How does that affect you?
"It actually makes it more relaxed for us as drivers. We have less commercial and media commitments during a race weekend. This allows me to focus much more on what I come here to do: racing. With the mechanics and the rest of the team, it is occasionally less convenient to communicate. You have to shout quite a bit more to get everything across clearly."
"WE RACE AS ONE"
Do you find that you also drive better because of that bigger focus?
"It does feel like that. Of course, I am used to performing with a whole circus around us, but I can retreat more easily and more often now. That definitely has an effect for me. It is a lot less cosy in the paddock, though. It's emptier and it feels more like a test day or when I was still racing in a junior class. Anyway, I wouldn't want it any other way. I was so hungry after those extra months."
What was that time in quarantine like?
"I suddenly had a different life. Extra structure, lots of training, continuing to work on my reflexes and with a relentless focus that is impossible in the whirlwind of an F1 season. I didn't want to lapse into some kind of holiday feeling, but rather come out of this fitter and stronger. I made sure of that. Although of course I missed the chaos and competition too; at some point the farm here gets very quiet."
The #WeRaceAsOne-initiative against racism and inequality is the second big issue next to COVID-19 besides racing. Was it time this was brought up?
"We have seen a number of violent incidents on the news in recent months - and before that too. Incident is actually still an understatement. This is an issue that has been under the surface for far too long and I think it is very positive that we are now trying to do something about it as Formula 1."
How do you handle that yourself?
"I find that awareness for myself and the people around me is increasing. Trying to feel better about yourself, but also doing something about it. And not just once or for a month, but structurally. I like to commit myself to that so that sport looks at it critically. And keeps looking critically. There is a lot of room for improvement."
So keep talking?
"Every moment we talk about it helps create more awareness. If, in the process, you also do your best for more diversity, then we are doing well. Step by step. But I understand that frustration is growing. Take that recent case of Breonna Taylor, the ambulance nurse who died during an unjustified search. Still little has been done about the three officers responsible. Well, there are still a lot of flaws in society. Still, I draw hope from the actions as well as reactions we continue to see everywhere."
Your last race in Spain was a shame, just outside the points. How do you keep yourself sharp, that you don't get stuck in that disappointment?
"By the afternoon and evening after the race just being really grumpy and frustrated! But on Monday, I force myself to put it behind me. I don't put it away though, because I look critically at how I could have done better and what I left out where. But not learning with a drooping head, but chest out. No whining and move on. Just a good bit of mountain biking to clear my head, talk to my chief mechanic and go."
"THE 80S IN MONACO"
What is your first memory of Formula 1?
"Watching races at home as a kid. I think that was a 360-degree spin by Nigel Mansell, which looked so cool. Not good for his lap time, but the fact that he could just keep racing after that impressed me a lot. I also remember well the race in Melbourne, where Mark Webber captured his first World Cup points while still driving for Minardi. That was even trickier then because only the top six got points and he finished fifth."
What is a historic race and era you would have liked to have raced in? "The 80s would have been cool. With the extra-slick tyres and those manual boxes. Those cars at Monaco during a fast qualifying lap, can you imagine!"
A new generation of drivers is arriving with Lando Norris, George Russell and Max Verstappen is also part of it. Are they different?
"As drivers, they are not really different, they are not drastically different in their driving style. They do like their video games, haha, that's one thing for sure, with the most realistic racing simulators. Maybe I should get into that too."
An advantage?
"Nah, don't think so. They could go outside more often instead of those games. But other than that I let them, they do a good job." (grins)
And off the circuit, do they approach the world differently?
"They are very relaxed about this circus. The older generation is a bit stiffer. Look back a decade or so and you wonder if some of the drivers were having fun. You notice in everything about this new generation that they enjoy what they do. In racing, but also in the world around it. They approach it more openly and their natural experience with social media makes it easier for them. What also helps is that drivers are more motivated to bring out their own personality. Less in a tight straitjacket so to speak. As long as you have fun and show it, I think it's super. Don't force it, because the public is so prickly about that these days. And it also just looks embarrassing, haha."
How do you handle that yourself?
"Sometimes that's a challenge. The more you keep private, the more people start digging to look for things. Social media gives your fans a peek into your life and that's how they get to know me better and hopefully appreciate me. I think it's important to know who you support, apart from just the colour of his helmet. I think I show a lot, beyond family stuff and relationships. Unnecessary to advertise that extra."
What are your temptations, off the track?
"I enjoy the time when I am not hopping from country to country and can enjoy my family and friends in Australia. Those moments make me the happiest. Music is my other passion. Unfortunately, concerts are out of the question for now, but music is like meditation off the track for me. Other than that, anything on two wheels is heavenly for me. Motorcycling and mountain biking, you make me completely happy if there is a jump in it."
As in a kind of Dukes of Hazzard-style?
"Haha, exactly. As a child, I always tried to airtime getting on my little BMX bikes. I was never very good, but the commitment was there. So now that I have the space and resources, I make sure I airtime get when I need to. I just basically remain a big kid."
Your ultimate goal is to become world champion, how many years do you give yourself?
"Actually, I want to say just until I am. I am still having the time of my life and still love racing as much as I did during my debut. But if I'm honest with myself, I don't want it to last more than five years. Unless I am very close in my fifth year, then I will keep on racing for a while!"
Next year is an evolution of this year, with the revolution hopefully following in 2022. What do you expect?
"Next year for me McLaren will be the biggest change. That's a new team and a different car, but I expect the engine will be the biggest challenge for me. I have only driven Renault engines since the V6 era. Soon that will be Mercedes and that will take some time."
"EXCITING AND SCARY"
And 2022?
"I am very much looking forward to that year. I am curious to see what effect the smaller budgets will have. Hopefully then the field will get a bit closer. The new rules are also going to make it a bit easier for us to follow each other, without that 'dirty air'. Very exciting and I hope the changes live up to expectations. I think it will benefit the sport if there is a bit more competition with each other."
What is your best memory on two or four wheels ever?
(laughs) "There are a lot of examples that my insurance is not allowed to know about... But something recent: so I like jumping with a BMX or motorbike. So I was practising that again recently with a pit full of those foam bricks and air pockets, so you land nice and soft. Spending an afternoon doing jumps with a dirt bike and then landing softly is really liberating! It's exciting and scary at the same time. Because if you do it wrong or land wrong, you are in quite a bit of pain I can tell you! But I can keep doing that indefinitely, haha!"
3X RICCIARDO ON WATCHES
Watch fan
"My father was always a watch enthusiast. I especially remember the billboards on which racing drivers wore the most beautiful watch and can still remember my father saying that one day I would also come to appreciate them. I had to compare them to a racing car. The similarities of the mechanics of racing and a mechanical timepiece, I finally understood when I was around 23 years old. It suddenly clicked overnight. I was converted. F1 then gave me a great opportunity to appreciate them up close."
Mechanics
"How much technique they can fit into a very small area. Clean work, an extreme eye for detail and finding it in those very details to stand out. In that, I also definitely see a comparison with Formula 1."
Design
"Then I would end up going for a clean design. A few years ago, I would have gone for something eye-catching, but I think I would go fairly minimalist now. Maybe it's age, but the older you get, the more you learn to appreciate things that are timeless and have a longer shelf life."
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