Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the thing he has missed the most over the past two seasons which have been interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, is a hug from his mum.
Ricciardo was in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix in 2020 when the plug was pulled on the eve of the race.
He spent the uncertain early days of Covid on his Perth farm but once F1 came back, the Aussie was on the road.
And he hasn’t been back to Australia since, spending the last two seasons overseas as he moved from Renault (now Alpine) to McLaren and tried to avoid having to comply with Australia’s strict quarantine regulations as well as get an early start with his new team.
There have been difficult times and Ricciardo revealed he was homesick having been away from his family for so long.
Ricciardo was schooled by his much younger McLaren teammate Lando Norris in 2021, beaten 14-8 in qualifying and a race advantage of 15-7.
Although Ricciardo did claim his first race win — and eighth overall — since Monaco in 2018, the 32-year-old is under no illusions he still has a lot improving to do.
Ricciardo said he was keen to see his friends and family and reiterated comments from earlier in the year that the number one thing on his list was a hug from his mum.
He said at the time: “Whether we admit it or not, I’m a mama’s boy and sometimes you just need a cuddle from Mum. That stuff has been hard this year.”
“One was the challenges I faced with the car, and trying to obviously gel with that, and then I think the other one was obviously being away from home,” he said.
“Just not having some of those home comforts or family surroundings that you kind of just used to.
“I think sometimes, if you live at home, you don’t really notice it because it’s always in front of you.
“But obviously when I left Australia and moved away from family, you certainly notice it more. But now, not seeing them for that long, that’s a bigger thing.
“It’s made me definitely appreciate other things in life, not just racing, and I think that’s given me a lot of growth.”
Ricciardo struggled late in the season, finishing with points just once in his last five races and scoring only three times in the eight races after his Monza triumph.
But his debut stint with McLaren was without a doubt better than his first season at Renault in 2019, where he tallied just 54 points and finished ninth in the drivers’ championship.
However, it hasn’t stopped Ricciardo’s coach Michael Italiano from claiming the Aussie could be in shape to win his maiden title.
Speaking to Express Sport, Italiano revealed Ricciardo doesn’t believe his title window has passed him by particularly with the new regulations set to come in for 2022.
“A world title one day is 100 per cent the goal – it’s always been the goal from day one,” Italiano said.
“I have full belief that he’s good enough for a world championship, and he’s got full belief that he’s the best. If the car is good enough, he’ll make it happen.
“The new regulations will bring an element of the unknown into next year. Who’s going to be the top team? Will it stay in the same order? We just don’t know. Heading into testing and race one in Bahrain will be super exciting.”
