Daniel Ricciardo and his affable personality are something that is integral to the Honey Badger’s appeal in Formula 1. He’s blisteringly quick, no doubt, but he adds that flavor to any team he’s been racing for. Undoubtedly, that would have been one of the reasons why McLaren decided to sign him up in the first place.

It’s hard to believe that Ricciardo could be difficult to be around. Even on his worst days, at least in front of the camera and the prying eyes of us F1 fans, he’s always been sporting that trademark smile. That being said, Ricciardo has now revealed that behind that smile stood a man who was broken down by his struggles with McLaren.

Back in June, in an appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, Ricciardo spoke about his struggles in 2022, “You have to kind of separate that from life itself because you don’t win often if ever. Most people don’t. You can still celebrate a fifth place or something because you kind of know what’s relative to the car and whatever. But it’s not a sport where you have constant success and constant highs.”

“Racing was dictating my overall happiness. You have a bad race and then okay, I’m now just a sh*tty person to be around.”

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During his McLaren stint, we’ve seen a more introspective Ricciardo. And true to the theme, the Australian was aware that his time with the Woking-based outfit was limited and eventually coming to a bitter end.

Daniel Ricciardo sensed his McLaren demise long before his contract was terminated

To say that Daniel Ricciardo didn’t fulfill his potential at McLaren would be a grave understatement. In his own words, he was sometimes a whole second off the pace. And what this meant for his McLaren career wasn’t lost on the Honey Badger. Rather, he already knew what his fate was going to be come 2023.

“A slight suspicion was already there,” he stated about his departure in conversation with Auto, Motor und Sport. “I could see my results and I was not happy with them myself. And we ran out of ideas to change it.”

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“I could no longer be sure that the contract would be fulfilled until the end. There was already a hunch that something was afoot”

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Ricciardo has now signed a deal to become Red Bull‘s reserve driver for the 2023 season. But does the Honey Badger still have one last chance to rejuvenate his F1 racing career?