Rewind to 2018 when Daniel Ricciardo decided to leave Red Bull. Almost no one but him thought it was a good idea. But he felt he had to do it for himself, for his happiness, because being the second driver to Max Verstappen wasn’t doing wonders for his self-esteem. And although even he knew switching to Renault would be a step-down, he knew he would be happier there. And he was. But when he switched to McLaren in 2021—where he expected to see his career through—things didn’t go according to plan, and he was at arguably the worst point of his career. And Ricciardo revealed why that happened.

After McLaren prematurely terminated Daniel’s contract at the end of 2022, he decided to take a break. But then, Red Bull—the F1 family he grew up with—offered him its reserve driver role, and he couldn’t turn it down, considering it was his chance to return home. Through his performances in the simulator and during Pirelli’s Silverstone tire test, he got another chance at F1 at AlphaTauri. But before he steps into the car at the Hungarian GP, he revealed what held him back at McLaren, leading to his career slump. As quoted by motorsport-total.com, he said, “I think in the past few years I’ve fallen into the trap of telling myself: ‘I don’t like the car, I have to change this and that.’ Maybe I was my own worst enemy in that regard.”

He continued, “My first qualifying session at McLaren was great. I didn’t know much about the car then. I didn’t think about what weaknesses it might have. I just drove it.” He believes that constantly thinking about what he could change about the car didn’t help him, and he vows to do less of that at AplhaTauri even though he knows it won’t be as good as the RB19 he drove last week. “In the last six months, I’ve had time to think a little bit about my career, and it made me think of a few things that I would do differently today,” said the Aussie.

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While discussing what was different after returning to Red Bull, he said, “Here I just got in and rode, and I didn’t think about it. I enjoyed it – and the lap times were good straight away.” He would want to have the same mindset as he steps into the AT04 on Friday and maximize the car’s potential without overthinking what changes must be made. As excited as he is to return to the F1 grid, he was just as thrilled to drive the RB19 at Silverstone.

How did Daniel Ricciardo get the offer from AlphaTauri?

After the British GP, Red Bull gave Ricciardo the opportunity to drive the car that’s been unbeatable this season—the RB19—as part of Pirelli’s tire test for 2024. A few weeks before the British GP, Red Bull taskmaster Helmut Marko revealed the Aussie would be in contention for Nyck De Vries’ seat at AlphaTauri for 2024 because the Dutchman wasn’t living up to Red Bull’s expectations. He said that based on Ricciardo’s performance in the tire test, Red Bull would decide on his future. And it worked out in his favor.

After the test, Christian Horner revealed that he was on a call with Helmut Marko, relaying everything happening on track to him directly, including the rekindled spark he saw in Ricciardo. Marko didn’t need anything more to end the call with Horner, call de Vries, and fire him. Red Bull and Helmut Marko aren’t the ones to give second chances. But the spark Horner saw in Ricciardo was reminiscent of his Red Bull days, so Marko called Daniel up later that night and gave him the news. And although t ithis wasn’t the fairytale ending Ricciardo was hoping for, it’s one step closer to it. And he didn’t have to think twice before saying yes.

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Are you excited to see the Honey Badger back in action at the Hungarian GP?