Daniel Ricciardo F1 'baggage' interfered with career trajectory

Daniel Ricciardo is one of F1's biggest 'what ifs'.

After 14 years of dipping in and out of the championship, it now looks as though the driver loved by fans who shot to stardom in Drive to Survive has now raced his last grand prix in F1.

However, many in the paddock believe the 36-year-old could have achieved so much more than his eight grands prix victories if he had simply avoided making one key mistake.

As the 2018 campaign was drawing to a close, Ricciardo opted to sign with Renault on a two-year deal, leaving his role as Max Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate and kickstarting the downfall of his career.

And now, the Aussie racer has been raised in conversation as a warning to drivers over what happens when a star struggles to evolve after earning success in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Discussing Ricciardo’s F1 career on the High Performance Podcast, former Red Bull star David Coulthard used the fan-favourite racer as a cautionary tale.

"You evolve as life goes on and you see some drivers who evolve well. You see others that get affected by the success and that affects their trajectory. I think, you know, Daniel Ricciardo would be an example of that.

Coulthard highlights Ricciardo's career failings

Coulthard, who himself experienced the pressures of driving for McLaren and Red Bull like Ricciardo, continued to assess the Aussie's downhill trajectory after leaving Red Bull.

"One of the bright young talents that arrive in Formula 1, one of the best overtakers of his generation. Always exciting to watch. And then just suddenly, you know, as he left Red Bull, Renault was okay-ish, McLaren, Lando outperformed him both years, even though Daniel won a race. And then it never really worked out again at Alpha Tauri."

And Coulthard is right. Danny Ric was drafted in and out of Red Bull's junior team through its various rebrands and was eventually dropped midway through the 2024 season, an unfit end for such a popular driver.

"Now he's happily retired, I assume. Wealthy individual, but it all felt like it was condensed into too short a period," Coulthard declared.

Podcast host Jake Humphreys then queried Coulthard over why Ricciardo failed to ever truly find his previous form again outside of Red Bull, with the ex-McLaren star responding: "You gain baggage as you go through life. If you're poor that's a Tesco bag with a few clothes inside. If you're rich it's a Louis Vuitton, other bags are available!

"But it all has to be carried. So whether it's baggage of wealth and success or whether it's baggage of poverty and difficulty, it's got to be carried to try and get to the next opportunity. And for some people maybe they're not able to let go and actually take themselves back to the moments that was the freest point that saw their performance at the highest level."

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