Many, including McLaren, were anticipating a positive start to the 2022 season for Daniel Ricciardo. Despite winning the 2021 Monza GP, the Australian failed to live up to his hype last season. However, things have gone further downhill in 2022, as he has only scored points in one race so far.

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Coming to the Monaco GP, Ricciardo had a point to prove. As his future with McLaren and Formula 1 is questioned, the Aussie had everything to play for. Unfortunately, his struggles continued as he only finished P13. Despite going through a difficult time, the Honey Badger showed his positive mindset throughout the weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo is still optimistic

Daniel Ricciardo started off the week on the wrong foot. A crash during Friday’s free practice left himself and the team with less time to work on data. Further, his misery continued on Saturday as he was knocked out of Q2. On a track that is difficult to overtake, a P14 start was not ideal.

However, the Aussie kept his belief. In a team meeting, he said, “I still obviously even after a day like today, I still have 100 percent belief in myself and ability. So probably makes a result like this hurt more. But, yes so, that’s kind of let’s say where I feel or how I feel.

But yeah, it’s one of the things you just got to keep, keep going. Love to be in a different position, but I kind of refused to let it beat me down.”

It is clear that Ricciardo will keep fighting, but time is not on his side. Earlier, Zak Brown even hinted that his future is in doubt after this season.

A frustrating Monaco GP for Daniel Ricciardo

On to Sunday’s race, Ricciardo once again struggled for pace. The McLaren driver finished 13th in the end and it was not the race he had in mind. It seems like the Aussie is running out of options as he revealed his thoughts on a frustrating afternoon.

He stated, “I mean, no mistake, Monaco you need confidence. You need to be at one with the car; for sure if you’re not quite there it can show on the stopwatch. So as much as I love this place, at the core, that’s what you need.

I’ll say there is still some stuff to get on top off and obviously it’s been a while now, so I wish it still wasn’t the case, but I think the reality is that. I think there will be some tracks where it just clicks from the first practice and where good, but I think I’ll expect to probably still work at it and try to keep trying.

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Try to keep trying, that’s it. I won’t go down without a fight but of course I don’t wish to be fighting for 13th. [I’ll] try to get back in the points soon.”

Things are certainly not panning out the way Ricciardo wants. However, we have seen his ability to bounce back from tough situations in the past. Do you think the Honey Badger will race with McLaren next season? Leave your thoughts in the comments.