34-year-old admits he tried to change his driving style to suit 2023 Formula 1 car

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AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he tried changing his driving style last season in an attempt to get the best out of the car.

Ricciardo was speaking at the end of the season to RacingNews365 off the back of an eventful 12 months for the Australian.

Daniel Ricciardo went from being booted out of the sport at the end of last season to being linked with a seat in the best car on the grid this year.

The 34-year-old never quite got to grips with his McLaren on a regular basis.

Lando Norris outscored him in both of the seasons they were paired together, although that never affected their relationship.

Ricciardo also had bragging rights over the Brit as he claimed McLaren’s most recent Grand Prix win in Monza.

Moving from McLaren to Red Bull as their simulator driver at the start of the year to AlphaTauri in the space of a few months can’t be easy.

Even though there are similarities between the two cars he drove in 2023, it’s no surprise that Ricciardo switched up his driving style to try and get the most out of the AlphaTauri.

It was one of the slowest cars on the grid at the beginning of the year, but he and Yuki Tsunoda impressed in the final races.

Now, with a full winter to prepare and a closer relationship with Red Bull on the cars, the team will hope they can start to regularly challenge the midfield in 2024.

Ricciardo tried changing driving style at AlphaTauri

Speaking about joining his latest F1 team, Ricciardo said: “Going into Budapest, I hadn’t driven the AlphaTauri but immediately I got a good feeling with it. And I think then my confidence was back where it needed to be,” he said.

“I couldn’t really exploit my strengths with that car. So, then we started trying a lot of things, and I tried to change my style of driving. With that, my confidence started getting lower and lower.

“There’s so much involved in this sport. You’re always compared to your teammate, as well. So if your team-mate is doing consistently a good job then all the eyes are on you. There is more pressure, and then the engineer might feel the pressure, and then it can quickly get out of hand.

“It was important having the time off this year.”

AlphaTauri – or whatever the team is going to be called next year – are set to greatly benefit from Ricciardo’s experience.

The team have lost team principal Franz Tost this winter and given the team is synonymous with bringing through young drivers, having the Australian among their ranks should really help with the development of their car.

Ricciardo will hope he doesn’t have to try and adapt his driving style next year and can instead help mould the car into something that suits the way he races.

Alongside Tsunoda, there should be a lot of excitement around AlphaTauri going forward.