Daniel Ricciardo reveals F1 career highlight he “just wanted to be over”

Ex-Formula 1 star Daniel Ricciardo admits he “wasn’t excited about anything” ahead of a career-highlight 2018 Monaco Grand Prix victory.

Ricciardo made his F1 debut in 2011 with the backmarker HRT squad, before moving to Toro Rosso for 2011, and then Red Bull as Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate in 2014.

During a career that spanned 14 years, Ricciardo scored eight victories between stints at Red Bull and McLaren.

One of his most notable came in 2018 at the Monaco Grand Prix, two years on from a bitter defeat after claiming pole in 2016.

“I just wanted it to be over”

Ricciardo took pole for the 2018 edition of the Monte Carlo classic, before nursing a sick car to victory over Ferrari’s Vettel.

It led to an iconic swimming pool celebration for Ricciardo, with the win standing out as a career highlight.

However, in a new interview with F1, talking about his career-defining moments, he admits he was dreading taking part in that Monaco race.

“I don't have 100 wins,” he said.

“I had eight, so they're all very special.

“But yes, more was on that than 2016. I think getting another chance to win Monaco made the pressure even higher.

“I just wanted it to be over. I wasn't looking forward to the race.

“I wasn't excited about anything. I was just like, I've hardly slept.

“Everyone's coming up to me, wishing me luck and trying to give me advice.

“I just want to go hide and get this race done and hopefully win and then go drink!”

‘If I knew, it would have been worse…’

Ricciardo’s Red Bull suffered a loss of power during the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, with the team forced to coach him through tweaks he could make to his car to manage it.

He admits he didn’t know as much about how the hybrid power units worked as he should have, but feels that would have made him see just how bad the problem was.

“At that moment, some of my lack of knowledge with the way Formula 1 cars work and how an engine works and those hybrid engines and all of this… I didn't really know what the problem was.

“I probably should have known, but if I knew, I think it would have made me realise how much worse it was.

“F1 cars have eight gears. In Monaco, because it's a shorter straight, you don't really even get to eight.

“So you're already just using seven gears. With that problem, I was only using six, so I had so much less power.

“I was telling the team, and they were just giving me instructions like move your brakes forward or do this or do that.

“It was just problem-solving. They weren't really giving me the script on what the problem was.”