Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on his past and his future ahead of his 200th Formula 1 race this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Just last month, the Australian commemorated a decade on the grid during which time he has claimed seven wins and finished third in the Drivers’ Championship twice.
However, the past few years have been tough for Ricciardo after deciding to leave Red Bull for Renault in 2019 only to then join McLaren for this season, where he has struggled to adapt to the car.
Even so, the smiling ‘Honey Badger’ is pleased to have reached his latest landmark which will see him become the 20th driver to have made 200 race starts.
“After a few weeks away from Formula 1, I’m looking forward to going racing again at Spa-Francorchamps, which is an awesome circuit,” said Ricciardo. “It’s the perfect track to come back to with its high-speed sections and dramatic elevation changes.
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“This is also a special weekend for me as I prepare to line up for my 200th Grand Prix. If you’d have told me back at Silverstone in 2011, when I made my debut, that I’d hit 200 Grands Prix, I’d certainly have been very excited about it.
“It’s really a cool milestone to hit and definitely one that I’m proud of. I’ll be doing everything I can to make it a weekend to remember.”
Looking back on his early years in F1, Ricciardo admits the overriding memory was getting to race wheel-to-wheel with an all-time great.
“To know I was once in the same field of drivers as Michael Schumacher in Formula 1 is amazing for me,” he told Sport Bild.
“I remember one of my first races at Suzuka, I had a short duel with him. It was like a game of cat and mouse on the track and that was really unreal. I enjoyed every second.
“Michael had already won seven world titles. He is the god of this sport.
“After the race, my father took me aside for a moment, talking about the duel. He said ‘do you have any idea what just happened?’ I had to let that sink in first.
“When I’m older, I’ll think back to moments like that. My god, now that I tell it I just get goosebumps again.”
As it is, Ricciardo is now the fifth oldest driver on the grid at 32, but he still sees himself in F1 for the foreseeable future.
“It depends on a lot of factors,” he acknowledged to Motorsport.com.
“I’ve always considered myself a winner in this sport, so if I found myself constantly out of the points and without the right team behind me I’d probably say ‘okay, my time here is over, goodbye’.
“But at the moment, I think I’ll be here for a few more years. As I approach the 200th Grand Prix and I look back on what I see, it makes me happy because getting to Formula 1 is the hardest thing for a driver to achieve, but it’s not easy to stay there either.
“So I’m proud of my path. I would obviously have liked a world title but I’m happy and satisfied with the choices I made. Then, in terms of the future, we’ll see what’s in store for me.”
While it sounded like Ricciardo has given up on his aspirations of becoming an F1 champion, in reality, he still sees an opportunity at McLaren albeit not immediately.
“I understand the team is on a great trajectory, but now there are still a few hurdles in place that will probably stop us, let’s say, fighting for a championship for the next year or two,” he said.
“But it’s a bit of a reality now that the wind tunnel is a pretty big piece of the puzzle. It could be the last piece of the puzzle for the team.
“I think me, looking at it now, I really look to just to try and keep building on where I am now over the next couple of years with McLaren, then hopefully put myself in a prime spot for that 2024 season.
“It sounds crazy to talk that far ahead. But yeah, sometimes you’ve got to think like that.”
