A slew of poor performances and an outperforming teammate is the opposite of what Daniel Ricciardo needs to keep his seat. The Mclaren man’s future is up in the air and Ricciardo needs to prove himself yet again behind a single-seater. However, the Australian does not feel it’s the most important season of his career.

‘Honey Badger’ feels his promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull was more important to his career. Back in 2013, Ricciardo needed to prove himself to get the Red Bull seat that would be up for grabs following Mark Webber’s retirement. A driver is only good as the car he drives and getting the Red Bull seat was necessary for Ricciardo’s growth.

Elaborating on the same, Ricciardo said, “Strictly speaking, probably 2013 was my most important [year] when I was trying to get the Red Bull drive, especially after I knew Mark [Webber] was retiring. I knew that year could have really propelled me to a top team. So that was very, very important at the time.”

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After getting the desired result from his 2013 efforts, the sky was the limit for Ricciardo. The Australian made the most of this opportunity as wins and podiums followed during his time in Red Bull. However, Ricciardo needs to prove himself all over again to continue his career with Mclaren.

Daniel Ricciardo is 100% confident in himself again

To put it subtly, Ricciardo’s time at Mclaren has not been the best. Outperformed by teammate Lando Norris in almost every race this season and last is not a good look on ‘Honey Badger’. The Aussie’s sole win in Monza in 2021 hasn’t been enough to convince the top brass.

However, the Mclaren challenger for the current campaign is not the most convincing. The Woking-based team started the season 8th fastest on the grid- a pace not good enough to compete for the midfield. Over the course of the season, they have drastically improved the car and Norris is showcasing that.

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Ricciardo, however, is still struggling, but he is motivated and will not stop working until he proves himself. Adding to the emotion, he said, “I think long story short, I know I can still do it, and I believe 100% in myself. Even if that wavered a bit last year, it’s definitely back. It’s easy to look on paper and be like ‘it’s no different’ but I’ll keep at it. I think people forget, so right now sitting here today, I’m excited to remind people.”

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His stock has taken a nosedive since his Red Bull days, but we can’t count Ricciardo out just yet.