Standing behind a glass window from the 123rd floor of Burj Khalifa, Daniel Ricciardo is scanning the Dubai landscape, surprised he wasn’t feeling scared of being so high up, looking down.
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He suggests they find an outdoor deck for him to check out and see if any anxiety would creep in. Moments later, the Red Bull Racing Formula One driver jumps at the idea of skydiving when it is presented to him. “Can I do it at night?” he asks with excitement.
When he wraps up his fifth F1 season this weekend with the final race of 2015 at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, he’s keen on going biking in the desert. “It’s great for dirt bikes, buggies, whatever. There’s not really any rules, you can ride where you like. I’ll have some fun,” he says. It gives you an idea of the kind of person Ricciardo is – a thrillseeking, adventurous driver who is always going for more.
Which explains why 2015 – a year that saw him make just two podiums in 19 races to lie eighth in the standings – was frustrating for him at times. Especially that it came on the heels of a breakthrough season for him in which he won three races and finished third in the Championship.
“There were times when it was difficult,” Ricciardo told Sport360 on Wednesday reflecting on his 2015 season. “Last year I sort of proved to myself what I was capable of. All the things I believed I could do, I did it, that’s sort of that last tick in the box that you need for your self confidence.
“Obviously, coming into this year thinking ‘alright the car will be a bit better, we should be closer to Mercedes and I’ll keep improving as a driver so I should have a chance to fight for a title’ and then coming off a pretty bad winter testing with a lot of problems… in the first few races we weren’t very close to the front, sure it was frustrating.”
After winning four consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championships from 2010 through 2013, Red Bull were usurped by Mercedes last season, which brought on many regulation changes, and this year, the Milton Keynes-based marque slipped further down the grid with only three podium showings between Ricciardo and team-mate Daniil Kvyat.
Ricciardo admits he had to change his mentality as the season went on.
“I needed to, not change my approach in terms of driving – I always try and drive as fast as I can, but just limit what I was expecting from the car, from the team, just appreciate that it was going to take some time,” the Aussie explains.
The main concern will be the lack of any visible progress after such long development time. Won’t fill Red Bull with confidence for 2016.
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) November 16, 2015
“Once I reset everything in my head, I think the season has been pretty good. I’ve learned a lot. Sure it’s been frustrating at times but I’ll leave the season becoming a better driver or having a better understanding of the sport after it.
“The biggest lesson was not to have any expectations. Just focus on… not necessarily focus on positions. Sure, you want to be on the podium every race but I think a lot of the time I was coming to the race thinking ‘maybe we’ll get a podium in this race’ and then we’ll be seventh or eighth. So I think it’s just understanding how to maximise whatever I have and then being happy with that. So if it’s 10th, then okay, I’m making sure I can finish 10th and that’s all I can do.”
While it is unclear how competitive Red Bull can be next season or whether other teams will be able to catch up with the ever-dominant Mercedes, Ricciardo feels the sport is heading into a direction he is not necessarily thrilled about.
“I think last year (F1) went through quite a lot of change and I actually think last year the races were quite exciting. This year it seemed to have separated a bit too much. I think it’s been a bit too predictable,” he concedes. “Both Mercedes and (Sebastian) Vettel have been on the podium nearly every race. I think the power units are a bit too complicated and there’s too many differences between them so that’s creating for me a bit too much of a spread across the field.
“Sure, you’re always going to have top teams but for me it’s too much now the spread basically. I’m happy to keep it eco and green and try to lead some form of technology with that but I think it can be less complicated. So for me if the power units can be a lot closer together, that’s a good start. If the cars are louder that’s obviously nice for the fans and then we’ll go from there.”
There is lots of uncertainty surrounding Red Bull’s future in F1 next season as they are struggling to find an engine for 2016. The team have been outspoken regarding their troubles with their Renault engine this year and while team principal Christian Horner announced earlier this month that they will be on the grid next year, there are still no signs of an agreement with any engine supplier.
“No news yet. The team has obviously announced we’ll be racing so sure they’re putting plans in place for that so I expect there’ll be an answer soon,” was all Ricciardo could say on the matter.
The 26-year-old from Perth says the uncertainty over next year has not been a distraction but it forced him to face the media repeatedly with no clear answers to satisfy them.
Rumours erupted that Ricciardo might even go to NASCAR when Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded to a tweet asking if he would offer the Aussie a seat in his racing team.
“He basically said ‘yes, the doors are open, anytime he wants to race on a street course, the car is here for him’ so then obviously I said ‘cool, let’s try to make that happen’ and it sort of blew up,” said Ricciardo.
“Realistically, whilst I’m doing F1, it’s not realistic. Sure, this is where I want to be successful first, and down the track, if NASCAR is an opportunity then it could be interesting for me.”
Engine issues aside, Ricciardo is pleased with how Red Bull have been facing their woes all year. He added: “I think how the team stayed together as a group has been really good. And how we improved the car, how all the engineers, the aerodynamicists improved the car this year. It was easy to blame everything on Renault but I think at the start of the year we also had some deficiencies with the car.
“I think what was really cool is that the guys weren’t focusing on Renault’s problems, they focused on their own and for that I think we really improved the car a lot. At the start of the year we didn’t have the best car, and I think now we’re at a point where we’ve got one of, if not the best car. So that’s been really cool to see.”
