Daniel Ricciardo opens up about 'scary' crash risk

Daniel Ricciardo has opened up about the 'scary' mindset he needed to install in himself during his F1 career.

Aussie icon Ricciardo has taken a break from racing since being sacked from Racing Bulls in 2024, and is instead enjoying some time away from the track.

The 36-year-old has been linked with a return to F1 through the Cadillac team who are joining the grid in 2026, while he has also been rumoured to be joining a number of different racing series such as IndyCar or the Supercars Championship.

However, Ricciardo issued an unofficial retirement earlier this year when he said 'Nah, I'm done' when asked about a potential racing return.

In a rare public appearance in Australia before a minor dirt bike incident that left him hospitalised, Ricciardo spoke about the mentality needed during F1 races, and how it didn't come naturally to him.

"I would use too much energy trying to be tough all the time because it’s not natural for me," the Aussie fan favourite said in an interview at Ray White's Connect conference. "I would see other drivers who had that killer instinct from morning to night and I wished I could be like them.

"It becomes quite scary because there’s some unpredictability and risk involved. You might be in third place and think, 'Well, I’ve got a podium, do I need to risk crashing?' But it’s the most fun, and I always thought it was better to crash than not try.

"It got to a point [where] to me it was just instinct. You accept that if it doesn’t work you can be proud that you gave it a crack. I loved it, and I felt like the competitors would see me coming and knew I’d have a go, so I was already one step ahead."

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Inside Ricciardo's F1 career

One driver who Ricciardo may have been talking about when discussing drivers with that 'killer instinct' could be his former team-mate Max Verstappen.

Seven of Ricciardo's eight grand prix victories all came with Red Bull, but the Australian opted to move to Renault ahead of the 2019 season after it became clear that Verstappen had the better of him at Red Bull.

As it happened, Ricciardo's move to Renault was not the right decision, as the Australian fought in the midfield with Renault, McLaren and Racing Bulls while Verstappen was winning championships with the dominant Red Bull team.

Ricciardo did claim one extra win with McLaren in 2021, but the following year he was axed by the team one year before the end of his contract.

That led to him heading back into the Red Bull family first as a reserve driver, and then with the team's junior outfit. However, following some poor performances, Ricciardo was once again sacked before the end of his contract.

It meant that Ricciardo finished his career with the eight race victories, 32 podiums and two third-place drivers' championship finishes.

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