'Am I a bit washed?' Ricciardo slaps down speculation
Daniel Ricciardo has declared only a handful of opinions from within the F1 paddock matter, as speculation surrounding his future in the sport continues to bubble.
Ricciardo will head into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix without a world championship point to his name.
The Aussie started the season seemingly in contention for a recall to the senior Red Bull team alongside three-time champ Max Verstappen.
But having been comprehensively out-performed by teammate Yuki Tsunoda – who has scored seven points – that chatter has now descended to whether or not he would even see out the season.
Daniel Ricciardo ahead of qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. (Photo by Michael Potts/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
But in a fresh interview with ESPN, Ricciardo pointed out only a handful of people within the sport have the full picture of his performances.
“I only care about what Christian (Horner, Red Bull team principal), Helmut (Marko, Red Bull racing senior advisor), Laurent (Mekies, RB team boss) and a couple of others think in the paddock,” Ricciardo said.
“Their opinions are the ones which matter. They’re the only people that have all the data, all the info of if I’m pulling my weight or am I not. They’re the only people that know the black and white answer.
“Like I know if I speak to Helmut after a bad race, he’ll say ‘pull your finger out,’ so I know what’s expected of me.”
Ricciardo has crashed out of the last two grands prix from points scoring positions, both arguably through no fault of their own.
In Japan, he was taken out on the opening lap after contact with Alex Albon.
There is no doubt his retirement last time out in China wasn’t his fault – rear-ended under safety car by the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. In a new chassis he had been asking for since the start of the season, it had to that point been Ricciardo’s strongest weekend of the season.
He said he tries not to read press about him, well-aware of the fickleness of fans and pundits.
“I’m sure a lot of people, my fans, F1 fans, whoever, have been saying ‘f—ing hell Daniel, pull your finger out, what the f— are you doing?’ That’s just part of this whole thing,” he said.
“I’m sure for a lot of them it comes out of a place of them caring and wanting me to do good, and then for some they just have a negative opinion they won’t change.
RB team principal Laurent Mekies talking to Daniel Ricciardo during the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
“I tend not to read stuff about me. I’m generally not a big reader, but inevitably you come across stuff. But it’s one of those things – I perform at a few races and all of a sudden it’s ‘Daniel’s back’ or ‘Daniel’s in contention for this, or that’.”
He pointed to the cycles following Carlos Sainz’ sensational win in March’s Australian Grand Prix as a perfect example.
“(Carlos) did great in Melbourne, coming back after the surgery, winning the race – amazing win, he did frickin’ awesome,” Ricciardo said.
“But it’s one win and suddenly people can be like ‘oh, he’s the highest rated driver on the grid’ or whatever … then if Charles wipes the floor with him for a few races those same people would be ‘oh, it was just a one-off, Carlos isn’t all that,’ you know what I mean? It’s like that.
“I know if I was going to have an awesome weekend or two, the narrative would suddenly be that Daniel’s back. It can change so quickly.
“But that’s also an example where you can’t get caught out on it. If you read everything it’s like, ‘oh I’m the man’, ‘oh no I’m not the man’, ‘oh I’m the man’, ‘oh no I’m not the man’, just over and over.
“If you’re not strong minded enough, you start doubting yourself … (thinking) am I past it, am I a bit washed? Whatever.
“I know if I was to read something at the moment it’s not going to say ‘Daniel’s on fire this year’. Clearly on paper I’m not. But do I feel like I have the ability to be on fire and go on a run? Absolutely I do.”
The Miami Grand Prix will get underway at 6am Monday (AEST).