MOTORSPORT: Ricciardo reveals highs and lows of F1

Moving to McLaren has brought the best and the worst of Formula 1 for Aussie hero Daniel Ricciardo.

He won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last month, his first victory since leaving Red Bull Racing at the end of 2018, but he started dead-last in the last F1 race at Istanbul Park in Turkey on Sunday.

Ricciardo admits he has struggled through the current championship, despite having more than 100 grand prix starts and eight wins, although he believes the win at the classic Milan circuit track was always a possibility.

“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised that I got a good result. Am I surprised that it was a victory? Yeah, probably,” Ricciardo told The Grille podcast fronted by veteran motorsport commentator Greg Rust.

“As the weekend progressed I believed it more and more. It was a cool feeling.”

But 2021 didn’t start that way and there are still hiccups for Ricciardo, who has had trouble adapting to the McLaren and is also facing a red-hot young teammate, Lando Norris, who has five years with McLaren.

“I’m certainly growing in confidence,” he says optimistically.

“I definitely felt more comfort and, like, a calmness since the August break. I just needed that time to re-set.

“I think the first half of the year was probably two things. It was so intense and also, OK, it was probably, like, very foreign for me to be struggling so much.

“Obviously, I've had a fairly solid career up to date. You always have highs and lows, but I haven’t lacked an understanding with a race car like I have this year.

“So that was foreign. I needed to get away for a bit. Escape. Switch off.”

Riccardo is typically optimistic after becoming the 20th driver to win a grand prix with McLaren, and the first since 2012.

“I’m certainly growing in confidence. I know what I can do.”

Heading for the back end of the 2021 season, Ricciardo is also looking forward to a special prize from McLaren’s American team boss, Zak Brown, who will allow him to drive the 1984 NASCAR campaigned by the legendary Dale Earnhardt.

The number #3 he carries on his cars is a tribute to a racer known as ’The Intimidator’.

Ricciardo is hopeful his track time could come as soon as the next round of the championship, the US Grand Prix at Austin in Texas.

“That’s a pretty sweet experience that I’ll hopefully get to do soon. To kind of get behind the wheel of a car he raced will be pretty surreal.

“It will probably happen in the next couple of months. It might even happen in the ‘states. They might send it over, do a few laps in Texas. Fit with the American theme.

“We’ll see what happens. But that will be pretty awesome.”

Apart from his own career, Ricciardo says he keeps in touch with the next generation of young Aussie racers – Formula 2 front-runner Oscar Piastri, Formula 3 race winner Jack Doohan as well as Alex Peroni – as they move towards F1.

“I’m not looking for a pat on the back. I do follow these kids and I want them to do well. I want to see another Aussie to be up there with me,” he says.

But Ricciardo admits the one big disappointment from 2021 that has been nagging at him.

“This is the first year in literally 15 years I have been legitimately homesick. I am hanging out to get back to Oz. Home is home,” he says.

In the latest instalment of the The Grille, the honey-badger also tells Rusty about his craving for meat pies, his daily drive and his return to Perth, then previews the rest of the 2021 F1 season.

Meantime, co-host Shane Jacobson calls an unsuspecting Steve Pizzati to solve a Holden mystery, VACC chief Geoff Gwilym stuns Rusty with a bold VFACTS prediction and Bendix Brakes general manager George Kyriakopoulos previews the latest industry tech.

Click here to listen.