Daniel Ricciardo speaks to Esquire Middle East ahead of his return to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix about life off the track, his move from Red Bull to Renault, to McLaren, and more. Read the full conversation below.
Great to see you, Daniel. We haven’t seen you since we had you on the cover of Esquire Middle East last year.
Ah right, in Dubai! I actually really liked that shoot. I liked what you did with my hair.
When you won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix in September, the reaction across the world was unlike anything I’ve seen for anyone else. People really feel connected to you. Do you find that as you travel across the globe?
I try to be modest and humble, but yeah, it is true. Like, I really felt that, that when I won, I got so many compliments and love from so many people in the paddock, and I could I could feel this overwhelming level of support and happiness for me. It felt like, deep down, everyone is supporting me and wants me to do well. So when I do, it’s wild. It’s really wild.
Maybe it’s just because I haven’t won in a long time and they’re just happy for me. But I do feel that I have a lot of support. it’s nice. I guess it tells me that I’m doing something right. And I guess people can relate to me or my journey or my feelings or emotions.
Is that something you’ve felt before?
I actually I felt it was visible in Monaco in 2018. There were people coming up to me and hugging me, and they were crying as much as my mom and dad were. So I was like, OK, this really has an impact on people. That was the first time I really felt proud of what I was able to achieve then.
I’m going to compliment you for a second so bear with me: You are a positive, good-natured person. You enjoy life and never seem to take anything for granted. But what are the ways that you feel that you’ve grown and changed in ways that people haven’t seen?
I’m trying to consciously be a little more selfless. I think that might sound surprising in a way, but with this sport, I think anyone who’s really chasing a dream, or chasing—sorry if this is a cliched word—greatness, you do put yourself first and you shut things out, you shut out family, and you become engulfed in your own stuff.
In a way you have to be, but I think there’s also a balance to be found. I think I’ve been selfish in some things for quite a few years. I’m consciously just trying not to be any more selfish that I need to be. I’ll use it for the competitiveness that I need, but I don’t want that to spill into my everyday life. I want to be an affectionate, caring person. I want to make sure that I still show that with the people that are close to me in my life. That’s something I’m consciously trying to improve.
What led you down this particular journey? Did journaling make you more introspective?
I think that definitely helps. Journal writing allows you to really open up to yourself and be honest. But more than anything, the nature of Covid and being away from people that you love for longer than you would like, including my family, Mom and Dad, my sister and her kids made me focus on that.
These are simple things, but when you don’t see them for so long, all you want to do is see them. Now, every time I’m in a different city, I’ll try to go shopping and buy them gifts, because I just want to give. You feel that there’s something missing, and you ask yourself, what can I do to fill that gap?
Well, I want to give, I want to show love and affection. Covid created a change in mindset for me, a realization that certain things mean more than you think.
Is that completely a personal journey? Or does it dovetail with how you grow on the track, and how you approach your main focus in life?
My growth on the track has been fairly natural. I’m in my 30s now, so my perspective on things changes, and is probably enhanced by travel and meeting different people and getting different perspectives on life or situations. I think I’ve just matured as a person.
10 years ago, Formula One was everything. Without Formula One, life didn’t exist. Now, there’s other things which hold a lot of value to me. I think they always have, but as you mature, you understand that those things are there, and they are as important. When you’re younger, you think that it’s wrong to give attention to other things when that attention can be put towards Formula One and trying to become a champion. But actually, you can have a healthy balance with all these things and still being successful. You know, I don’t think you have to shut everything out in your life. Maybe that’s the mature 32 year old talking.
Absolutely, and at 32, you’ve had the chance to work with different teams, in different cars, in different parts of the world with different teammates. What have been the lessons in those moves, and what stands out about your current experience with McLaren?
Honestly, going through those changes was a little scary. You do feel a little vulnerable stepping out of your comfort zone, and the comfort zone for me was Red Bull. I knew everyone there growing up in that family. It was not easy, but in a way, it was easy, because it’s going to the same workplace every day. You’re not really challenged with anything that you haven’t already faced yet. Pushing myself to try to integrate into a new team with Renault, and then with McLaren, opened me up to a lot.
When you move, people don’t know your strengths and weaknesses, so you get questioned a lot more, you get challenged. In a way, it’s hard to put it to words. You might not even know it at the time, but you look back on the year we’ve had and you can say, wow, this year I really did that.
I learned to build relationships better because I was forced to. I was forced to put myself in a different environment. Through that, I learned more about what’s important to me. I learned weaknesses that I have. I found out more about myself with Renault and then with McLaren.
Obviously Renault was just two years for me, and then I moved to McLaren, and I think there were things that were great in both Red Bull and Renault, but in changing teams, I realized as well what was still missing for me, and with McLaren I’ve found a real family in this team. After not being around family for so long, it’s something that I really do value in my life. I think it’s something that I need to do well.
In the first half of the year when I was struggling, McLaren put their arm around me. They supported me through all that. It gave me confidence and kept me believing that I could get to the place where I am now.
What do are you looking forward to most about returning to Abu Dhabi for the season finale?
I love having the finale in Abu Dhabi. I’m very easy to please. Some of these answers may have seemed somewhat complex, but I’m a very simple person. When you give me sunshine, I’m very happy. I definitely love the last run of races in the Middle East. With Abu Dhabi, I have to worry about what visor I run at the start of the race because normally the sun in your eyes, so you want some tint on your visor. Then that quickly goes down and you’re finishing up the lights. Even little things like this make the race fun. We’ve done it a few years now, so I know what I like. But it’s still always a question of what I am going to race with this year. There’s a nice energy on the paddock there, boats are playing music, people are having more parties. Even though we can’t join, it’s nice that people were enjoying themselves.
Well, if you need me to get you into a party, all you have to do is ask.
I guess we could, but we probably shouldn’t. We have bigger priorities on that weekend, but you enjoy it for me! And I’ll see you there.