Back in the day, a scenario of seeing an athlete in peak physical condition and talent fail would’ve perplexed everyone. However, in this new and more aware age of sport, we know every physical sport in the world has an equally important mental aspect to it. Nowadays, we are more aware and accepting of the mental aspect of the sport. We have multiple examples in Formula 1 as well, with Daniel Ricciardo being the best example. The Australian, despite all his talents and love for the sport, could not perform and failed miserably at McLaren. In fact, his revelation about the harsh reality of the McLaren ousting will give you an interesting perspective of what the Australian went through.

Ricciardo might’ve bounced back from the difficult McLaren era with his own processes. However, accepting the harsh reality and working through was difficult, to say the least. Although it is the path Ricciardo took, in the end, he has come out better and he has opened up about this mental journey.

“At the time, it was a bit of a harsh reality getting fired. but by the end of the season, when I got home for Christmas, I was like, ‘Okay, it probably doesn’t help my reputation’, but at that point, I didn’t care anymore. It was a blessing in disguise,” said Ricciardo. In fact, Ricciardo ended up thanking McLaren for ending the contract early which gave him some much-needed break.

“I needed to step away for a bit, to re-find myself, re-find my love for the sport. If it could have been done in a better way, fine, but at the same time, I don’t think me finishing out the contract this year would have done me any favours. I guess, in a way, I thank them for making that decision because we were in a bit of a hole, and I’m not sure we could have got out of it,” he admitted.

Read More: After McLaren Break Up, Daniel Ricciardo Refuses to Swallow His Pride for an Elusive F1 Return: “I Don’t See Myself…”

The Australian’s admission is honest, to say the least. We all are aware of how difficult it is sometimes to come out of a degrading situation without any help. Help that the Australian sought as revealed by his close aide.

Close aide and race engineer reveals how “hollow” Daniel Ricciardo was after driving for McLaren

In an episode of Red Bull‘s Talking Bull podcast, Ricciardo sat down with his old trackside engineer Simon Rennie. Rennie played a vital role throughout Ricciardo’s Red Bull career, which saw him win seven of his eight races in F1. After seeing Ricciardo go through his life in F1 from afar, the former ally got an opportunity to speak his mind for the first time since the Australian’s McLaren ousting.

Rennie did not hold back and he expressed the kind of man Ricciardo was and what he saw after his painful McLaren stint.

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“I don’t think it was as easy as you thought it was gonna be,” said Rennie. “When he first came back, I was quite surprised, knowing Daniel, how he was.” After a pause, he continued, “I didn’t say this to you at the time. You were definitely not as confident as I know you are and you were just like a little bit hollow in a way and felt like you were doubting yourself a little bit and you were concerned about whether you could do it again. Obviously, you’ve done good success with us and the last couple of years haven’t been quite successful.”

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The honest admission makes you really sit back and think about the impact McLaren’s stint has had on Ricciardo. To see him bounce back makes it all the more endearing. One can truly achieve anything with the right people and mindset.