Daniel Ricciardo expressed his excitement about returning to Monaco as a full-time F1 driver after missing out on the on-track action last year.
Ricciardo has experienced both the highs and lows of racing on the Monte Carlo street circuit, overcoming the disappointment of a lost win in 2016 to secure victory from pole two years later in a gutsy drive that saw him nurse an ailing car to finish line ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Ricciardo’s more recent Monaco outings have been less memorable—or perhaps memorable for all the wrong reasons, as he struggled during his time at McLaren. In 2021, he was lapped by then-teammate Lando Norris en route to a podium finish as Ricciardo crossed the line in 12th. The following year he finished 13th before eventually losing his McLaren seat in August 2022.
He’ll now be looking for a redemption drive around the principality as RB has solidified itself as one of the strongest midfield teams this season.
“For sure, the circuit rewards a bit of bravery and these things as well,” Ricciardo told the media on Thursday.
“But if you’re connected with your car, that also allows you to make the difference. So, in a way, it’s a race where it’s like, ‘oh, setup doesn’t matter as much.’ But it can also matter even more because if you’re comfortable with the setup, that then allows you to drive kind of out of your skin.
“You can see it—obviously I had the opportunity to watch last year and I could watch the onboard of Max’s last sector. You can just see the connection and the confidence and brushing the walls didn’t faze him. So, there’s this kind of feeling where you’re just so comfortable and willing to push it that extra bit and without fear.
“I take my hat off to Ocon as well. His lap here last year, you could see it. I was watching it and you could just see that, ‘oh, this kid is so connected to his car right now’—it’s like you can visually see the confidence in a driver around here.”
Ricciardo revealed that watching the race from the sidelines last year proved to be a pivotal moment, strengthening his resolve to return as a full-time driver.
“I remember watching over pit lane, because if you stand up there and you can see the last sector, the chicane after the swimming pool. And I remember standing there with Christian [Horner] for…I don’t know if it was quali maybe, the start of quali. And I think he even said like, ‘you’re missing this aren’t you?’ And I was like, yeah, I’m really jealous right now of these guys about to go out.
“The feeling of driving around here and having that opportunity to push a car to the limit is just—it’s so awesomely scary and beautiful and insane and intense, that it’s like one of life’s greatest experiences. It’s hard to match a feeling like that. Really excited to get that opportunity again, that’s the coolest thing.”
He acknowledged that Monaco is a circuit where qualifying is crucial and can essentially make or break a driver’s perception of the weekend.
“I experienced many strong years here with Red Bull,” Ricciardo said. “And actually the year with Renault, I had a good quali here. But then, obviously the McLaren qualis were not good. So yeah, the highs are high and the lows are low.
“‘Cause you know that if you qualify bad, the weekend’s pretty much done. And you can only be so optimistic on a track that doesn’t really allow overtaking. That’s why quali is such a powerful feeling around here. And when you do the lap, it’s just this crazy feeling of awesomeness. So, it’s just fun.
“I definitely come into the weekend with a genuine feeling of happiness and confidence and possibility. (…) So tomorrow I’m just going in with the excitement to drive this track again.
“And then I’m sure after the few laps that I’ve done I’ll be like, ‘okay, now let’s f***ing turn it up a little bit.’ Then you’ll start to see the confidence start to build and the possibility of maybe an awesome lap on Saturday.”
RB’s car has demonstrated impressive speed in qualifying—both drivers reached the final ten at Imola last weekend, Ricciardo’s first Q3 appearance of the season—but their races are being hampered by poor starts. Ricciardo confirmed that the team is actively working on addressing this issue.
“Already the last few weekends we’ve upped the emphasis on what else can we be doing on starts,” he said. “Making sure we’re doing everything we can with preparation, making sure tyre guys are, team clutch, all the normal things.
“Of course you always prepare, but we’re just doing even more…because there are teams that are getting better starts than us consistently. So clearly we’re missing something and we’re just trying to figure out what it is.
“When you’re, let’s say lacking something, a lot of the time you’ve got to challenge yourself. ‘Am I being open-minded enough?’ You know, ‘are we a little bit stuck in our ways or our processes?’ ‘What can we do?’ So we’re just trying to challenge each other more and more. That’s, for now, all we can do, obviously in a few days turnaround, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Asked whether manoeuvring around the narrow street circuit is still as enjoyable in the latest generation of cars, larger and longer than under the previous regulation cycle, Ricciardo admitted that limited visibility adds to the challenge. Nevertheless, he expressed his fondness for the circuit from a driver’s perspective.
“So the biggest thing that changed—I mean, there’s a few things, but I would say the biggest is visibility. Because the way the cars are and with these fairings and the longer body work at the front…When we turn, we’re not looking straight ahead.
“So if we’re turning right, we’re looking to the right. So corners like turn eight, getting into the tunnel… These corners, which are quite long, we don’t actually see the apex, you know, until pretty much we’re there.
“Same with the last corner. So a lot of the corners are a bit more blind now and picking up references is a bit harder. So ideally you want to see where you’re going, so it makes it a little bit trickier.
“So that was one thing which I realised in 2022. Otherwise, yeah, they’re bigger, they’re stiffer. So riding kerbs and things like this is a bit trickier, but it still is a fun track. I’m not going to say that ruins it. It just makes it a little trickier.”
Asked whether Monaco still produces the same thrill it used to given the abundance of street tracks and glamorous locations on the current calendar—the most recent such addition being Las Vegas—Ricciardo emphasised that the Crown Jewel of Formula 1 remains unmatched.
“Obviously Sunday is a bit of a different discussion. We know that the race is normally the race, but this is a glamour, this is an event as a driving experience,” he said.
“Arriving on the boat and coming in and seeing everything here. I’ve done that many times and that feeling, I haven’t gotten sick of. Now there’s this excitement talking about driving tomorrow and these kind of butterflies in my tummy and only Monaco really produces that.
“Do I wish the Sunday could be a bit different or cooler? Yes, from a race, but as a weekend and the atmosphere and what it does to us drivers, that’s, I don’t think that will ever be matched. So I’m glad it’s still here.”
