2020 pre-season lockdown "made me appreciate" Formula 1 - Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo

2020 pre-season lockdown "made me appreciate" Formula 1 - Ricciardo

The 2020 season was delayed from March to July in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

Ewan Gale

Tuesday 5 January 2021 17:54

Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the lockdown ahead of the delayed 2020 Formula 1 campaign reaffirmed his love for the sport.

Last season was delayed by several months from March to July as the world adapted to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ricciardo pointed to this absence of competition during the extended break as something he used to motivative himself once the season began.

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“I think for me personally it made me appreciate and understand how much I love the sport and how much I love the competition," he explained.

"I think not having it for a few months, as much as I loved being home and getting some rare time at home, I was hungry. I was hungry to go and compete.

“It was reiteration. You have bad days in the sport. One day is frustrating and you’re like ‘I hate race cars’ but the absence confirmed that I certainly love it and want to keep doing it."

As a world championship, team personnel spend a large amount of their time travelling between races, and Ricciardo believes the increased time with family in lockdown taught the paddock to appreciate "normal life" more.

“I think as a person it’s probably what I would say 99 per cent of everyone felt is some real appreciation for normal life or life as you previously had, an appreciation for being able to go out," he added.

“One thing I missed tremendously was concerts, live music. Being in a venue and having - it sounds gross now - but having sweaty people all around you. Just, I guess, the real freedom of travel which is something we are all accustomed to.

“We travel the world and at some point, it feels like a job but it’s a nice freedom that we have. So these are some things that I missed and certainly won’t take for granted in the future."