Ricciardo looks back on the difficult side of F1

Former Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that not every day in the sport felt like a highlight reel with better branding. Some days, he said, simply “hurt”.

The Australian described the low points of his career as stretches that could leave him frustrated and, on occasion, completely uninterested in racing. That is not exactly the line most athletes use while selling the dream, but it is at least believable.

Ricciardo enjoyed major success during his time at Red Bull, where he won seven races. He later added another victory with McLaren, but his results declined after that. A brief spell with AlphaTauri across 2023 and 2024 brought his Formula 1 career to an end.

Success was real, but so were the setbacks

Ricciardo said he does not take what he achieved for granted, even if the tough days often outweighed the famous moments in his memory.

“I'm always a little bit hesitant to talk about the disappointments, the lows, the tough days,” Ricciardo told Drive with Jim Farley.

“People see a lot of the good and yes, it, it gives you a lot as well. I don't want to dismiss that.

“But what goes up must come down. There are a lot of days that hurt. There are a lot of days when you're frustrated.

“There's so much that's out of your control, and of course, I'll take accountability when I can.

“But there are days that just hurt and suck. I was one of the lucky ones. I was able to win races in F1. I won eight races, but I entered over 250.

“I don't know what that works out in percentage, but it's a pretty low percentage of success rate.

“I compare it to a team sport, for example, maybe their record is 50 per cent - probably better, a lot of teams.”

That gap between the glory and the grind, Ricciardo said, is exactly what keeps drivers coming back.

The highs kept pulling him back in

Ricciardo added that the rare good days carried more weight because they were so hard to earn.

“The good days, or the real good days, are far and few between,” he said. “But there's something about it that just keeps bringing you back.

“It makes the highs higher, because you don't win every day and you appreciate it when you do.

“But there were days when I was very uninterested. I can tell you numerous occasions where I thought [I'm done].”

For a driver who spent years in one of the sport’s most unforgiving environments, that is not a shocking confession. Formula 1 has a way of making even the successful people sound tired.

Ricciardo’s comments offer a blunt reminder that elite sport is not a constant climb. Sometimes it is just a long sequence of pressure, uncertainty, and the occasional race win to keep everyone pretending the rest was easy.