Daniel Ricciardo reveals what left him absolutely furious during the 2023 season

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AlphaTauri driver Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he was seriously angry during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this season.

It was a chaotic start to the race with Charles Leclerc ending up in the barrier on the formation lap before a crash going into turn one.

Speaking on the P1 with Matt and Tommy Podcast, Ricciardo was discussing being caught up in the drama in Brazil this year.

Anyone who simply read the results of the 2023 season would have thought it was a boring campaign with Max Verstappen dominating virtually every race.

And while there was rarely a race to reach the chequered flag first, there was typically a lot of action going on behind the Dutchman.

Sao Paulo was no exception and it’s no wonder Daniel Ricciardo was angry when the race eventually restarted.

Several cars were forced to retire after Nico Hulkenberg was squeezed by his team Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon and all three cars spun off the track.

Ricciardo had got ahead of the accident, but a loose tyre smashed into the back of his car.

The AlphaTauri star pitted to fix the damage, but the resulting red flag saw him somehow end up a lap down.

Despite several of his team’s rivals retiring from the race, Ricciardo wasn’t in a position to score points after just a couple of laps.

Ricciardo beyond angry during Sao Paulo GP

After finding out he was starting a lap down in Brazil after the opening corner crash, Ricciardo said: “I would like to know myself. There was something about how we should have changed the wing in the pit lane when we went to the garage that put us a lap down or something.

“Forget that, there hasn’t been a race yet like there have been two corners and then a safety car and the red flag, so how can we start a lap down before the race has even begun?

“And it was like, not only are you going to start a lap down, you’re going to start from the pit lane, you’re taking our dignity away from us, you’re taking our pride. I was nearly so angry that I wasn’t, I was so angry that I was just disappointed.

“So I wasn’t throwing things around or losing my mind, it just kind of flattened us. Look, that made me leave the race certainly frustrated but also I was like nah we had pace, so I took a few positives away from a pretty lonely Sunday.

“But yeah there was a hell of a frustration because we were doing OK.”

Ricciardo may have been angry during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, but he’ll at least be pleased to have been back on the grid and his season improved after that race.

He was brilliant in Mexico City and is attempting to put himself in a position to take Sergio Perez’s seat in 2025.

That’s going to be easier said than done as most of the grid would love to be in the fastest car in Formula 1.

However, his previous relationship with the team at Verstappen should give him a decent head start.