Daniel Ricciardo has vowed to prioritise himself and racing ahead of the 2024 F1 season.
Whilst that might sound obvious, Ricciardo has recognised what matters after being away from full-time F1 for several months earlier this year following his release from McLaren at the end of last season.
It allowed the 34-year-old to appreciate what was required ahead of any return, which came sooner than expected when he joined AlphaTauri in July after the team opted to sack Nyck de Vries.
Although Ricciardo’s comeback was disrupted after breaking a bone in his hand during a crash in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, leading to him missing the following five races, he has learned where his focus needs to be during the off-season.
“I’ve cut back on a lot of things outside of racing,” said Ricciardo. “I still have some other interests outside of the sport, which I’m involved in and I enjoy, but I’ve minimised a lot.
“I’m just trying to make the racing the priority. Especially with the calendar now, if I’ve got some time off then I’m either in the gym or I’m putting my feet up and recovering for the next race. It’s prioritising a few things outside of this job.
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“With the way the sport’s growing, it’s easy to get a little bit – I don’t want to say lost – but there’s just so much going on.
“There are so many things you can be doing, and it’s all really exciting and really fun, and I am…I love that stuff, of course, because it’s a new experience and it’s great.
“But having the time off at the start of the year, I realised that I was probably just doing too much sometimes, probably just not prioritising myself, in terms of my body and my recovery and all that, so I’m going to focus on that.”
Whilst Ricciardo expressed disappointment at the fact the recent season ended, one which was exhausting for many, given he only drove in seven races, he is planning a tighter winter schedule in readiness for a full-time campaign.
“I haven’t done the whole season, obviously, so yes I still feel a bit tired because the last few weeks were pretty relentless,” said Ricciardo, who returned home to Australia after the season ended.
“I’ve probably got a little bit of energy reserve in me, so I plan to have a shorter bit of couch time over the break.
“As opposed to maybe having two-and-a-half, three weeks of enjoyment off, I might just have one-and-a-half weeks, and then get back into the gym and enjoy it.”
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