Daniel Ricciardo has explained how he prefers to focus his energy on the driving side of Formula 1, rather than getting bogged down in the technical and mechanical elements of the sport. The Australian driver admitted on the Gypsy Tales podcast that he doesn't pay much attention to the technical side of racing, and that he feels that it's an approach that works well for him. "It's funny because my mates will say, 'Dude, you are driving these multimillion-dollar cars', with the most technology - the most advanced machinery, pretty much, in the world," Ricciardo commented. "Yet, you might [just about] know how to change a spark plug. You might know how to take off your tyre, but I like that! "I like not really knowing a whole lot. I like investing more of my energy into the driving and I like just being a little bit blase about it all. "It makes me approach it with a bit more of a carefree attitude and I think that helps me [to] drive better, perform better and take the pressure off it." Asked where he feels his strengths lie, he explained that he is very good at getting accurate information back to his team. "Where I'm good with my driving, [it's] feedback," he said. "I think I'm really good at feeling what the car does and relaying that back to the team. So that's probably as technically sound as I get but, otherwise, yeah, I'm not really one [for that]."
"I was in awe of it"
Ricciardo went on to explain that he had to work hard to not be overawed by Formula 1 when he joined the sport in 2011, and admitted that he had been somewhat overwhelmed as he realised the enormity of his achievement of making it into the top tier of motorsport. "It was hard coming from Australia, getting into F1 and that world. I'm sure there are many parts around the world which are pretty disconnected from it, and Perth is certainly one of those," he explained. "F1 was on a pedestal, I was in awe of it. And, a few years later, I'm there. [Michael] Schumacher is on the grid and these guys that I've literally idolised as a kid. And I was in awe of it. I was like, 'How did I get here?'. "Some people from six years old, they probably have this crazy talent, and maybe they have an idea that they're gonna make it. "I was obviously good, but I wasn't dominating, and there was no real signs or early signs to tell me that I was going to make it." Ricciardo said it took a while for him to realise that the drivers he was racing against likely felt the same way he did, and that it took him a while to humanise his rivals. "I was definitely a bit overwhelmed by it, at first," he added. "It was a bit of a learning process to try to get comfortable with it and, ultimately, believe in myself that I belong there. "I just had to trust in myself that I got there for a reason. Although it's Schumacher, [Fernando] Alonso, [Kimi] Raikkonen, whoever, they still had to go through the same path. You try to humanise everybody around you to make them not seem so superhuman."
Most read
