Daniel Ricciardo joked about the German team's dominance in the last eight seasons in Formula 1, but stressed that although he has only eight wins, he has already proven that he is a driver capable of being in the category
Even without a title, Daniel Ricciardo knows that he has a career to be respected in Formula 1. In Spain, the McLaren driver became the Australian with the most GP races in the history of the category, surpassing his compatriot Mark Webber. There have been 217 races, and in the opinion of the owner of car #3, there is nothing more to be proved, even if people still question the only eight victories achieved in his entire career.
About that, by the way, the answer is immediate: "I think it's because I wasn't at Mercedes from 2014 to 2020, probably!" joked Ricciardo in an interview with the Dutch website RacingNews365.com. The Australian, however, explained that this is one of those situations where the driver's will alone makes no difference.
"Maybe I had the talent to win another 20 or so races, let it be. An opinion, just. But there's a lot more to the sport, and this is probably the least divergent sport there is, so it's simple. It's about timing, it's about getting everything right on the day, having the strategy, being lucky or whatever," he added, also saying that he is not a person who is tied to statistics.
"I don't look at the eight [wins] and [think] 'Man, it should be 15 or something.' If that said something about a world title, then I would look at that statistic. But I'm not really into numbers," the Australian continued.
The last time Ricciardo stood on the top step of the podium was at the 2021 Italian GP. Since then, his best result was in the following race in Russia, when he crossed the finish line in fourth. But the experienced driver prefers to look positively at his eight wins. "Some drivers didn't even make the podium, like [Nico] Hülkenberg," he recalled.
"You can always choose to say 'Man, look at [Lewis] Hamilton,' as you can also look back and [think] 'Well, look at Hülkenberg.' That's just the way it is. I've done enough in F1 to let people know that I'm a capable driver and stuff," the Australian pointed out.
Down at McLaren due to a performance far from that of teammate Lando Norris, Ricciardo is dealing with an uncertain future. And he understands that even staying in F1 is something that depends a lot on himself.
"I want to continue for a few more years, but there is no guarantee," admitted the 32-year-old driver. "I don't have ten contracts on the table, so it's something that is also in my hands, and not only for my desire, but of course for my competitiveness," he concluded.