‘There Was A Bit of Panic’ – Daniel Ricciardo Reveals Becoming Paranoid over Coronavirus

2020 is a year that has become synonymous with the deadly pandemic named coronavirus. F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has now revealed that he had a COVID scare, following an inconclusive test result after the race weekend at Mugello.

Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez have been the only drivers to have tested positive for coronavirus so far. Because of that, they have also missed race weekends requiring them to complete self-isolation periods.

Ricciardo is quoted by Planet F1 as saying, “[Well] it wasn’t a false positive, [it was] inconclusive. Still scared me though! Then trying to figure out, okay we’ve got to get tested again, and there was a bit of panic and that wasn’t fun.”

Daniel Ricciardo has said that he has become more disciplined with safety measures over time

“Obviously, I was fine in the end but that obviously was something I hadn’t gone through before and then you start playing games in your head like ‘do I feel a little..’ and ‘maybe I do have it and just’, but that was a bit of panic one morning.”

Formula 1 has done its best in terms of arrangements and safety measures to keep the competition running. Regardless, Ricciardo has said that the test result quite surprised him. Given that he had taken utmost care and was very careful, the result was even more shocking.

The Renault driver said, “As the season went on I became more and more disciplined with isolating or just taking care of myself, especially after Checo got it and I was like ‘Okay so this isn’t a joke’.”

“I was being very careful so I was quite surprised [by the result of the test]. Obviously, in the end, I didn’t have it but I was scratching my head,” concluded Ricciardo.

Ricciardo will turn out for Renault for the final time at the Abu Dhabi GP

The 2020 season finale race will be the last time the 31-year-old Australian drives for Renault. Following the end of the season, he will move to McLaren F1 on a multi-year deal.

It has been a fruitful year for Ricciardo, and he would want to bow out on a high-flying note. In doing so, he might also help Renault reach their desired target of P4.