Daniel Ricciardo left questioning 'harsh' treatment after F1 retirement

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo left questioning 'harsh' treatment after F1 retirement

Daniel Ricciardo recently revealed just how harsh an F1 driver can be on themselves

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Monday 6 April 2026 21:57

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Daniel Ricciardo's outlook on life after F1 has revealed he still questions how harsh he treated himself during his career in the pinnacle of motorsport.

Becoming a Formula 1 driver, or indeed any athlete, requires a mental strength most mere mortals struggle to master, but at what point can it become unhealthy for an individual?

Don't worry you haven't stumbled onto an episode of Jake Humphrey's podcast. Instead, it's Daniel Ricciardo who has brought to light his own mental struggles in F1 and how he ended up treating himself 'harshly'.

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Ricciardo competed at Red Bull, Renault, McLaren and Racing Bulls during his F1 career, securing eight-grand prix victories when he was at the peak of his powers.

But behind the wide smile presented to the world and the media, was a rather harsh mentality he's only started to challenge in retirement.

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Ricciardo: I think we are very harsh on ourselves

During a recent interview with Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, Ricciardo was asked to impart some advice and emphasised the importance of finding your job fun.

Looking back on his mindset in the sport, Ricciardo said: "Look, racing, I learned that, you know, I would only allow myself to have fun if I had a good result.

"Living in that black and white is, in hindsight, I don't think was a healthy way to do it and go about it. If I would go and even have dinner with my family or friends after a race that I didn't perform well in, I would feel like, oh, I don't deserve to be eating a nice meal tonight, for example.

"I think we are very harsh on ourselves. And I think that yeah, just to have some more consistency and balance and doesn't matter if you had the best day or the worst, you should still give yourself the permission to have fun on your day off or however that looks."

Ricciardo 'glad' retirement decision was made for him

Elsewhere in his interview with Farley, Ricciardo admitted he was grateful the retirement decision was made for him.

He explained: "I lasted another year in F1 and then ultimately got let go, that was the reality at the time. But I think once that happened, I'd been let go twice in the last however 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.

"On reflection, I was grateful that they made the decision for me. I think it would have been hard to be like, 'I'm done.' I knew I was probably done because I knew that it was harder for me to perform at the level I could. For whatever reason, I lost a little bit of something and it's okay to admit it. It's fine."

What is Daniel Ricciardo doing now?

Since being dropped by Red Bull after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Ricciardo has entered retirement and is instead focusing on personal projects such as his apparel brand Enchante.

Ricciardo was also named a Global Ford Racing Ambassador last year, enjoying show runs in the Ford Raptor and taking part in promotional events for the legendary manufacturer.

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