Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo believes that his dismal performance in this year’s Austrian Grand Prix was a turning point that fueled his motivation to “get back to the front”.
Ricciardo had scored just three top-ten finishes before Austria where the Aussie qualified well down the order.
The Renault driver spent the bulk of the afternoon outside of the points and with little hope of improving his fortunes, ultimately finishing P12 after a low-key performance, one spot ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
But in the midst of Ricciardo’s hopeless midfield struggle on that day emerged a salutary flicker of inspiration.
“Austria was one of our worst weekends of the year,” Ricciardo remembered, speaking to F1’s Tom Clarkson during the latter’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“Towards the end of the race, I was out of the points, and even with a Safety Car, our race wasn’t changing much, so I had a bit of time to think inside the helmet – which you can do!
“I was driving around and I was actually saying, ‘This isn’t fun – this race is not fun for me right now’.
“But instead of being like, ‘This isn’t fun, I want to quit and walk away because this sucks’, it was like, ‘I don’t belong here and I don’t want to be running around 14th, I want to get back to the front and I believe I can and I believe we can be better’.”
Ricciardo’s inner thoughts were just the spark he needed to boost his determination.
“It fuelled my motivation,” he added. “I was frustrated and angry but it fuelled a lot of positivity.
“Because it just made me want to get back to the front quicker, and that hunger was more apparent than ever during that race. It was a good thing.”
Ricciardo appeared more incisive in the second half of 2019, although Renault’s R.S.19 was limited in its ability to carry the Aussie forward.
But more points were nevertheless put on the board, with Ricciardo’s fourth-place finish in Italy representing the highlight of his season.
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