Former Red Bull and McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo has opened up on the impact of his sudden retirement from F1 in 2024, explaining that while he initially had feelings of “failure and humiliation”, he’s now proud of his career.

The Aussie was a key figure on the grid between 2011, when he made his mid-season debut with HRT, and 2024, achieving eight Grand Prix victories and a further 24 podiums in that time.

Ricciardo was renowned for his aggressive, late-braking driving style and infectious personality, but departed the sport immediately after the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix following a frustrating season with Racing Bulls.

“You start racing at such a young age and over the years you build a ruthlessness, but that also is inward as well,” Ricciardo explained on the latest episode of official podcast F1 Beyond The Grid. “You know, you can be very harsh on yourself and expect a lot from yourself.

“I think that my view of it was [that I was] failing, not performing to the level I needed to at the time or not being able to finish out the season or whatever. It's then a sense of humiliation, like I failed and I didn't do what I once could. Trying to deal with those next few months, I understood it as I was just hiding from the humiliation.

“People saw me out in public. I was having a good time and having a drink or whatever, and I was just really hiding from what I really felt deep inside, which was a lot of pain and sadness. You know, I was once this kid that was hoping at least to fight for a world title and obviously winning races or whatever, but now it's like, oh, it's gone.”

Despite the disappointment around his retirement, Ricciardo admitted that he now appreciates Racing Bulls’ decision to replace him with Liam Lawson as it gave him the chance to find a life outside of F1.

He said: “Everyone's path is going to be different. I think actually the fear I had, in hindsight and learning how content I am not having that anymore, is that what if they kept just extending contracts for me? Would I keep doing it? Was I ever going to turn the tap off?

“I know I wanted to at times. I can tell you right now in Monaco 2022 after the race, I'm sitting in my apartment talking to my team and I was like, ‘I don't want to do this anymore. I'm done’.

“And I've had these conversations more than once over the years – Silverstone 2015 was another time. Sure, you have lows and whatever, but there's moments where I've wanted to just get away from it. But the reality is, would I have?

“I also think you have people around you that tell you a great tale, you can still do it, and you end up believing a lot of these voices. I know they don't mean harm but you don't really get a chance to have your own thoughts much.

“I think that would have probably just continued, and maybe I'd still be racing and that's also a scary thought. I still don't like how it ended, but there's also a part of me which is grateful that they pulled the trigger because I wouldn't want to be doing it now.”

Although Ricciardo isn’t certain whether he’ll return to racing in another series quite yet, he admitted that with the benefit of hindsight, he’s reached a stage where he can reflect on his F1 career – which included spectacular wins in Monaco and Monza – with a sense of pride.

“In the aftermath of everything, I use the word failure and humiliation in these things, and I appreciate a lot of the stuff I've said probably feels very negative or heavy,” he summarised. “But now that I'm out of that, I think being able to understand more [about] life and a lot of things around that, I look back now with much more of a smile than I did a couple years ago.

“I am definitely proud. I think sometimes you also never really want to reflect that much, especially when you're racing, because you nearly spook yourself. If I'm like, ‘Oh wow, I did that’, you’re just like, no, can't think about that. I’ve just got to stay on it because it was all just weird for me.

“Maybe every F1 driver feels this, I don't know, but there's so few of us. It's not imposter syndrome because I believe I was definitely good enough to be there and all that, but it's like, how did this happen? You know, how am I one of the 20?

“I've won races. It can be overwhelming to reflect. But now that I'm in, let's say a good, even-keeled place, I'm extremely proud, shocked in many ways that it all happened.”

To listen to this week’s episode of F1 Beyond The Grid, simply hit go on the audio player above or click here to listen via your preferred podcasting platform.

You can also check out a huge selection of previous episodes – spanning every decade of F1 – in our dedicated F1 Beyond The Grid library.

You can also watch the podcast on the F1 YouTube channel.