Daniel Ricciardo has revealed that the end of his F1 career came with the realisation that his schedule during race weekends was “far from normal”.
Ricciardo enjoyed a 13-year career in F1, with his most successful period coming during his time at Red Bull.
In his final year, Ricciardo raced for RB alongside Yuki Tsunoda but departed the team after the Singapore Grand Prix, bringing his F1 career to a close.
Having enjoyed more personal time since hanging up his helmet, Ricciardo admitted he has been surprised by just how chaotic an F1 driver’s lifestyle can be.
“I was in the F1 bubble for so long,” Ricciardo told Speed Street.
“I got used to how intense the schedule was, the paddock, all of it, and that became normal.
“But now that I’m outside of it, I’m like ’Oh, that was far from normal’.
“The schedule was that down to the minute.”
Ricciardo will be present at the Indianapolis 500 next weekend to promote his wine brand alongside race entrant Conor Daly.
Ricciardo outlined that he is keen to see how the hectic lifestyle of an F1 weekend compares to drivers competing at the Indy 500.
“There’s a curiosity of what a week looks like for you [Daly] for the biggest race of the year,” he said.
“The kind of schedule and your personal time, compared to your ‘on’ time, I’m curious to see how that is and how laid back are the drivers, or how, intense and switched on they are the whole weekend.
“So there’s that, from my past, I’m curious about.”
