Riccardo: I will work with my right foot more than my left!

Daniel Ricciardo returns to Formula 1 – this happened a little sooner than the smiling Australian’s many fans could have hoped, and probably even sooner than he himself expected. He has already tried on the white AlphaTauri jumpsuit, had a seat fitted to a car Nick de Vries drove recently and is in good fighting spirit, even though the team is currently in last place in the Constructors’ Championship.

“I lost interest in Formula 1 last year and my confidence was shaken,” Daniel admitted in his first interview after returning to action, which he gave on the championship’s official website. – Of course, when you participate in a sport where you try to be the best in the world, you need absolute confidence in yourself.

And when it starts to weaken, you stop enjoying it too. In general, there were many factors. And when I came back to Red Bull, I received such a warm welcome that it impressed me. When I started working on the simulator, I was still not sure how it would turn out, whether the driving experience would be the same, whether I could feel the same as before.

But as soon as I had a few sessions on the simulator, everything returned to me, and I became that “normal Daniel” again, the love for racing returned and I was ready to go to the start again.

I gave myself time to take a break, thought it over, woke up one morning and felt it was time… The AlphaTauri car is what it is, it is, I’m going after it steering wheel crawling, and from now on work will begin. I don’t want to overload my head with unnecessary thoughts.

I understand the AT04 has certain drawbacks, I imagine it lacks downforce overall. But I think if it’s more or less OK with balance – although it’s probably not as grippy as the Red Bull car I drove a few days ago – then it can be worked with. And I’m ready to apply all my experience in the process of refining it.

As for the upcoming weekend in Budapest, I plan to just get to the start and have fun, so I’ll be working with my right foot more than my left! ..

I know the team is struggling to earn points this year, so I will try to get the most out of the car and get into the top ten – then everyone will think the job is done.

They expect results from me, although it is still difficult to say what exactly. Until I get behind the wheel of this car, it’s hard for me to say what it’s capable of – will it let it fight for 8th or just 14th? I don’t think I will be under any pressure as there are only two races left before the summer break so I am unlikely to be tasked with achieving anything before August.

But at the same time, I do not tune in to a slow start – I want to declare myself right away, and I also want to use everything that I understood during this break in my career.