Daniel Ricciardo has reflected on life after leaving the grid in F1’s official podcast. Suddenly losing his seat after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix initially left him with a sense of failure and humiliation; looking back on his F1 career now, he can feel proud. The interview text published by F1 on October 28 brings together those feelings from different points in time, while revealing his different assessments of how his career ended and of leaving racing itself.
Beyond eight wins, a farewell he could not choose
Ricciardo made his F1 debut midway through the 2011 season and left after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, having taken eight Grand Prix wins and a further 24 podium finishes. His victories included Monaco and Monza, but his final spell with Red Bull’s sister team did not end as he had hoped: the team replaced him with Liam Lawson before the season was over.
Ricciardo explained that the competitive drive developed through racing from childhood could also turn into harsh self-judgement. Initially after losing his seat, he saw falling short of expectations and failing to complete the season as personal failures. He said that public sightings of him drinking and having fun did not mean he had processed those feelings. In retrospect, that was his way of trying to mask the pain and sadness within.
The thought of stepping away from racing for a while had also appeared before he lost his final seat. He recalled expressing a desire to stop during the 2015 British Grand Prix weekend and after the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix. At the same time, encouragement from those around him made him believe he could still do it. That led him to pose a question he could not answer with certainty: if his contracts had kept being extended, would he really have stopped of his own accord?
Still unhappy with the ending, but embracing life beyond the track
In the interview, Ricciardo said he still disliked the way he left F1, but that part of him was also grateful the team had made the decision, because it gave him the opportunity to discover life outside racing. He made clear that he no longer wanted to continue that racing lifestyle. He said that, with time, he had become able to look back more calmly on his victories and feel proud of having been an F1 driver. F1’s report still described a return to racing in another series as undecided.
INKA SPORTS analysis: judging the ending and judging the whole career
Three questions in this reflection need to be considered separately: whether Ricciardo is satisfied with the way he was replaced for the final time, whether he wants to continue living an F1 driver’s life, and whether he values his earlier achievements. He still has regrets over the first, while his understanding of the other two has changed since leaving. Eight wins did not disappear because his final season went badly. His ability to value those achievements now also does not make his earlier disappointment any less real.
His recollections from 2015 and 2022 add a timeline to that change: the desire to leave predated the eventual loss of his seat, but having the thought did not mean being able to make the decision. His question about hypothetical contract extensions shows that voluntarily stopping had been difficult. Appreciating his career today and committing to another season are therefore different choices. The interview explains the former without offering a concrete plan for the latter.
Summary: acknowledging regret while giving past achievements their due
Ricciardo’s reflections show how a driver can reassess a career: the ending of his final contract remains a source of regret, while the races completed and victories achieved over many years are equally real. Understanding where he is now requires listening to both parts. For the future, the most meaningful information will be the specific choices he wants to make himself, rather than interpreting his pride in the past as a new commitment to race.
