Daniel Ricciardo has never been the same driver ever since he joined McLaren in 2021. A testament to this has been the entirety of 2022. The Honey Badger, once known for his late braking and supreme overtakes, has had a nightmare year with the Papaya team.

Even though the driver within him has been compromised by this stint at the Woking-based team, it would appear that the man himself has been through a lot. While talking to Motorsport.com, the Australian explained his whole McLaren predicament in a nutshell.

He said, “When I was driving a car that didn’t dance with me and annoyed me, my self-confidence was declining. I started talking to a psychologist last year – the hardest year I’ve ever had.” [translated via Google Translate]

It seems the Honey Badger had to talk to a psychologist to keep his mental health in check.

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Daniel Ricciardo is out of a race seat in 2023. That being said, according to an F1 insider, the Honey Badger is in fact in talks with two top teams to figure out a solution for his 2024 aspirations.

Toto Wolff admits Daniel Ricciardo is in talks with Red Bull and Mercedes

Mercedes and Red Bull would be a dream for any F1 driver right now. That being said, with the position that he finds himself in, Ricciardo would be glad that he’s been linked to a reserve driver role with the teams.

Toto Wolff said, “I think Daniel is speaking to a few teams about a potential role, also Red Bull.”

Wolff was also pretty open about their dealings with the Australian. He stated, “For us, we very much like him, he’s a great character but we are not in a position yet who is going to be our third driver.”

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Daniel Ricciardo has been one of the most important and talented drivers Formula 1 has ever seen. But if he does land a reserve driver role for either Red Bull or Mercedes in 2023, will that spell out a potential race seat for the Australian in 2024 or beyond?