Ricciardo admits he was “grateful” team chose to drop him in 2024

Daniel Ricciardo admitted it came as a relief to lose his Formula 1 drive in 2024 following his slump in performance.

The eight-times grand prix winner made his final start at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2024 for RB (now Racing Bulls). That ended his brief comeback after McLaren cut short his contract to drive for them at the end of 2022.

Ricciardo initially returned to F1 in 2023, but was soon forced back onto the sidelines due to injury.

“In the third race in I broke my hand,” he said in a video released by Ford. “It was such a nothing accident, but I missed however many races, I was out for 10 weeks or something.”

He wondered: “Is this now a bit of a sign like should I just quit while I’m ahead, nearly. And I was like, no, there’s still unfinished business and I pushed through it.”

However his return the following year produced little more success. “I lasted another year in F1 and then ultimately got let go,” he said. “That was the reality at the time.”

RB’s decision to drop Ricciardo spared him a difficult decision, he said. “Once that happened, I’d been let go twice in the last two years. It had also taken a lot out of me. I’d put a lot of my soul into it and I did feel pretty exhausted by it.

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“In reflection, I was grateful that they made the decision for me, because I think it would have been hard to [say]: ‘I’m done’.”

Ricciardo felt he was no longer at his best. “I think I knew I was probably done because I knew that it was harder for me to perform at the level I could.

“Okay, Alonso, these guys, they’re in their forties in F1, [still] competing very highly. For whatever reason, I lost a little bit of something and it’s okay to admit it, it’s fine.”

Although he continued to receive encouragement from others, Ricciardo said he knew it was time for him to stop.

“There’s people that love you and will still tell you that you’re great and you can do it. But as much as you love them as well, you need to just close the door and make that decision on your own and be really honest with yourself.

“If I would have got to the end of last year, I think I would have still had a lot of these thoughts and had the conversation with myself because I knew it was becoming harder for me and I had to dig really deep to pull out a result that I was proud of.

“You always want to believe everyone’s looking out for you, and they probably still are, but they don’t know what it’s like to be you and in your situation.”

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