The 2023 Formula 1 season is finally underway. We’ve had one race under our belts, and it’s safe to say we’ve learned a few things. Red Bull seems to be a cut above the rest, Ferrari may be in for another dismal season, and Fernando Alonso is a legend! The Bahrain Grand Prix was a race of many highs and lows, however, none would’ve felt at their lowest than the McLaren fans. They currently have a car that’s arguably one of the worst on the grid, and to make things even worse, it’s seemingly riddled with reliability issues. Daniel Ricciardo‘s smile appears to be larger than ever!

While the papaya army has drowned itself in misery, one man is enjoying life away from the Woking-based team. They showed Daniel Ricciardo the exit doors at McLaren after two squalid seasons. Now, as he revitalizes himself with a can or two of Red Bull, he’s taking all the time to attend to his fans and, on a side note, gloat at McLaren’s downfall. In a recent video the Honey Badger filmed for his fan, he seized an opportunity to even put one to his old employers.

The 33-year-old Red Bull reserve driver replied to a fan who had sent him an emotional letter. He said, “I just want to say hello, and I heard actually…this kinda sounds weird, but I heard that my smile put a smile on your face. So, I guess that’s cool!”

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But that wasn’t all!

Fans react as Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed watching McLaren’s doom

In the video, Ricciardo said, “I actually really enjoyed watching the first one. So, we’ll see, maybe I’ll be back.” Fans took this as a thinly veiled jab at his old team, and wasted no time in trolling the team as they sided with the man. One fan even commented, “Ricciardo sitting 18m rich and watching mclaren downfall LOOLL he’s gassed.”

Let’s take a look at just a few of the fan reactions to Ricciardo’s video.

That being said, fans were also wildly optimistic about the promise he seemingly made about a comeback.

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Do you think Ricciardo received unfair criticism while at McLaren? Or McLaren’s current state has nothing to do with the two dismal years he spent with the team from 2021 through to 2022?