Ricciardo reveals ‘true friend’ Vettel will help in 2022

Daniel Ricardo He struggled from the start of the season, and in August reached an agreement to terminate his contract with him McLaren A year ago, give way to a champion Formula 2 from 2021, Oscar Biastrito take your seat.

An experienced Australian understands this Sebastian Vettelwhich He will retire from the class at the end of 2022gave him great moral support at a difficult time: “I will not go into detail as to what was said or anything else.”

“I mean, as a general comment, he’s picked up the phone for me a few times this year, and he’s been a friend,” he explained. “Having friends like that is very important, but also not uncommon, on the platform.”

“We got along with the drivers, we made friends, but to get that deeper level of friendship let’s just say some of the gestures he’s made this year, how nice he’s been to me was kind of unexpected, but, yeah, he’s very friendly,” Daniel Ricciardo said. “.

Asked to clarify when Vettel contacted him, the McLaren driver said: “He was most interested in when the whole decade happened, when there was a lot going on about it.

“And I don’t want to say that (only about him), because (also) there were other drivers, but he was the one who was picking up the phone a lot,” the Australian revealed.

Ricciardo still thinks it is possible to get a seat next season, perhaps with a role Reserve pilotbefore trying to set a starting point in F1 in 2024.

What is certain is that a year on the sidelines will see him win more back, rather than a seat with a less competitive team and run into 2023 next: “It’s funny, because people can say, ‘Well, if you’re interested in 2024, why’ Not interested in next year? “

“But I know what it would feel like after spending some time, watching the races on TV or somewhere in the paddock, you bring back all that, shall we say, hunger. And I’m still hungry,” he said of his strategy.

“I know a little bit of free time will do the trick, because I have the summer off, and that’s only two or three weeks,” said Ricciardo. “I really felt that with COVID-19, when we had a three-month hiatus or something, and I felt like this was my best season, maybe my best season since maybe 2016.”

“And so I know what a little rest does for me. I appreciate that every driver is different and feels the way they do, but I know that taking the right amount of rest next year will make me really look forward to getting back on the grid in 2024,” he commented.

“That’s why I say I want to come back in 2024, but there are no guarantees. I can’t sign a contract today to guarantee myself a seat in 2024. Nobody will. It’s not possible, but I’ll try to do everything I can to show next year that I’m still here.” I have the desire and the ability to do it.”

“It has been shown here in my time at McLaren that nothing is guaranteed in terms of performance,” the Australian explained. “So, if for any reason the season had been relatively bad, I think I would have finished the sport. So that risk seems much greater than the risk of being out for a year.”