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‘He was preparing me for the lows’ – Ricciardo shares the advice he received from Jackie Stewart in 2014
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Daniel Ricciardo has been reflecting on the words of advice he received from Sir Jackie Stewart during 2014, a year in which the Australian made his breakthrough as he made his debut for the Red Bull team.
After two years racing with the outfit’s junior squad, Toro Rosso, Ricciardo was promoted to the leading Red Bull team to replace the retiring Mark Webber and partner with four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
It proved to be an inspired move as Ricciardo went on to perform strongly, outscoring Vettel as he took three race wins and a total of eight podium finishes en route to P3 in the World Championship.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after last month’s Singapore Grand Prix – which would prove to be Ricciardo’s final Grand Prix, with his immediate exit from RB confirmed days later – the 35-year-old recalled the occasion that Stewart approached him during that successful year.
“I remember actually it was here in 2014 – that was my breakthrough year, and Sir Jackie Stewart called me in the lobby and I remember he said something to me,” Ricciardo explained. “He goes, ‘Look, if you ever want to talk, let me know because it won’t always be as easy as it seems.’
Ricciardo claimed the first of his eight F1 victories at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix
“He was kind of just preparing me for the lows – I was on such a high. Yeah, I didn’t win the championship that year, but everything just felt easy – I’m exaggerating, obviously not easy.
“So when he told me, I was like, ‘I’m good, what are you talking about? I’m not struggling, I’m not intimidated by anyone, what is this?’”
However, after the 2015 campaign proved to be more challenging – with Ricciardo failing to take a victory and ending the season down in P8 in the championship – the former Red Bull driver understood where Stewart was coming from.
“Even the following year, 2015, was a tough year, and I immediately realised what he was talking about,” Ricciardo continued. “I think [the best approach is to] never get too high, try not to get too low and just try to ride the wave. Yeah, just keep your feet on the ground.”
Ricciardo's immediate exit from the RB team was confirmed days after the Singapore Grand Prix
Ricciardo went on to experience plenty of highs and lows in the seasons following, going on to achieve four more wins with Red Bull before leaving the team at the end of 2018 to join Renault for what proved to be a two-year stint.
The driver from Perth then signed with McLaren but this marked the start of a particularly tough time for Ricciardo, who struggled to click with the car despite a final victory at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
Following his early exit from the Woking squad at the end of 2022, Ricciardo returned to Red Bull as a reserve driver in the following year. However, a surprise return to the grid came midway through the season when he was drafted in to replace Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.
Despite moments of promise, Ricciardo was unable to consistently recapture his form of old and ultimately lost his seat at RB for the final six races of 2024, with Liam Lawson set to step in to complete the campaign.
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