Fuel for Thought: Ricciardo Dishes on Austin, Keeping F1 Life in Perspective

As Formula One brings the to Texas for the United States Grand Prix, one driver is ready to embrace local culture.

Daniel Ricciardo was likely a cowboy in another life.

We’ve all heard the phrase when in Rome, but the Australian Formula One embraces a different variation of the colloquialism—when in Texas. He may be in town for the pinnacle of motorsport, but it isn’t stopping him from partaking in the local culture. He has visited the local watering holes, sported a cowboy hat (and likely his new apparel line this weekend) and you best believe he is ready for country music. Don’t be shocked to see the Australian taking in the live music scene, or singing out loud along with some country or folk music.

Austin has a unique feel to it, and residents seem to not change much of their routine when the F1 traveling party is in town. And similarly, Ricciardo dances to the beat of his own drum, typically with a Cheshire grin on his face. He may be a joker, finding ways to connect with those he encounters, but there is a genuineness behind it. And it’s something the Formula One community will likely miss next season.

Ricciardo said at the Japanese Grand Prix that it’s likely he’ll be without a F1 seat next season, setting his eyes on 2024 after he and McLaren mutually agreed to part ways a season early. Throughout his two seasons with the team, he’s only recorded one win—the only F1 win for a McLaren driver since 2012. This campaign hasn’t been easy, as he struggled to get comfortable with the new car and faced scrutiny when compared to teammate Lando Norris.

His future remains to be seen, but his recent struggles haven’t deterred him from loving the sport or impacted his determination to bounce back. Heading into the final four races, Ricciardo is coming off of a more positive stint in Asia with a fifth-place finish in Singapore and P11 in a shortened race in Japan. This broke his four-race streak of finishing at 15th or worse. Meanwhile, Austin is where Ricciardo has fared well in recent seasons, finishing fifth in 2021 and sixth in 2019. 

As F1 heads to the Lone Star State, Sports Illustrated chatted with Ricciardo about the unique Texas vibe, stories behind his tattoos and how he stays true to himself amid F1 pressures.  

The McLaren driver is all smiles during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend :: IMAGO / Action Plus

Fuel for Thought is Sports Illustrated’s exclusive Q&A with Formula One’s biggest names. The following questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Sports Illustrated: How are you?

Daniel Ricciardo: I am well. I am a little exhausted. It’s that point in the year where it’s a little bit of that grind stage where you can see the finish line. I am excited to have some rest over Christmas, but I’m doing alright. I’m in good spirits. I was home a couple of weeks ago, which was really nice, so I had a bit of a family reset in terms of spending some time with them. I would say I’m operating at an 8.5 out of 10 at the moment. So I’m pretty good.

SI: That’s pretty good for how long the season is and how much traveling y’all are doing, especially going from Europe over to Asia and then you’re coming to Austin.

DR: Yeah, I think that’s why. I’ll be bumped up to a 10 out of 10 pretty quickly for Austin.

SI: What is the vibe like in Austin? How would you describe it because from what I can tell, it’s very different than how it was in Miami?

DR: Yeah, it is. Anyone that’s ever visited Austin, been to Austin, it does have its own little vibe, its own way of being cool. I feel like it doesn’t change around F1. Obviously, you get a few more F1 fans in town. But I feel like the city and what locals do is pretty much what they would always do. The first time I went there, I remember I went to a bar and there was live music. It was really the way they dressed. There was such a diverse attire of clothing, but it was so uniquely cool and so effortlessly cool. I felt like everyone was really comfortable in their own skin. It was refreshing, refreshing to see. It’s hard to explain, but there was a feel-good factor when I was there. I love the food, I love the music. The people are awesome. The sport’s growing massively so we’re getting recognized in more and more places. A lot of people are like, ‘Dude, there’s a race tomorrow. Why are you in a bar listening to this band play?’ It’s all part of the experience in Austin. I definitely do that week different to others. I’m not in bed at 9 p.m. every night. I’m definitely having a good time.

SI: I know you’re a country music fan. Are you going to have a specific playlist for that week or are you going to tune into the local stations?

DR: I do enjoy listening to local stuff when I’m there. I’m very open to listening to new music. I would say the one thing that’s unconditional when I go to Austin is it’s strictly folk, country. That’s what we’re playing all week. Whether that’s an already made playlist or a random one or the radio, that’s TBD. I love all genres—hip hop, electronic or whatever. But Austin, it’s strictly country [and] folk.

Ricciardo ahead of the 2021 U.S. Grand Prix.  :: IMAGO / HochZwei

SI: What are three of your top songs at the moment?

DR: Ooooo. Alright, I would say it’s called "Take Me Home” by Tanner Usrey. That was a new one. I really like him. Then, what else was I listening to the other day? I have to go with “The Good I’ll Do” by Zach Bryan. And actually one of the local boys, Rob Baird. He’s actually now a good friend of mine, and he just brought a new one out—“Same Damn Thing”. Let’s go those three for now. I feel bad because there’s so many that I love, but let’s go with those three.

SI: I know you’ve got a lot of different tattoos. Which one is your favorite and which one has the deepest or your favorite meaning?

DR: Favorite’s always tough. It doesn’t have any meaning, but I like the rose on my hand. It’s also because I had no intention of getting it on my hand. I don’t know if you have tattoos, but you always get it either bigger or in a different area than you were planning. They manipulate it. I don’t know how it works. He put the stencil on my hand, and I was like, ‘My mom’s going to kick my ass.’ Then I was like, ‘Oh, whatever.’ So I got it, and now, I don’t know it’s there. It’s that much a part of me so I really like that one. My latest one I love—“Of Love and Life”. It’s actually the name of a [folk band] Caamp song, and I love Caamp. I don’t know if you’re on the Caamp wagon yet, but they’re very good. That’s a really deep song, and lyrically. I feel like last year when I was kind of a little bit homesick, kind of just going through some like emotions that I hadn’t really gone through for a while in terms of missing family and all of that sort of stuff, that song really spoke to me. And I just feel like that sounds like poetry.

SI: There’s a lot of pressure y’all obviously face as Formula One drivers, and it’s not just getting into the car and trying not to crash but it’s also the social media and media side and even yourselves sometimes. How do you a) stay true to yourself and b) is there a mantra you say to yourself to try to reorient and stay Daniel Ricciardo, the person?

DR: I definitely owe a lot of that to family and friends. I’ve got friends from my childhood who know me pretty much as well as myself, and I think if I was to change for the worst, they’d let me know about it. I feel like they’re very quick to ground me. And family as well. I still respect my mom and dad like I’m an eight-year-old kid as well that needs their approval. I still have really close relationships that I value, and I think that naturally keeps me on the straight and narrow, if you will. It probably doesn’t really answer directly your question, but I feel like over the highs and lows of the sport and going through all the different kinds of emotions, what puts me at peace with things is everything happens for a reason. I kind of have the perspective of I may not see it today, but maybe in a week or in a month, this will all make sense. I think that fills me with a positive outlook, and it keeps me with a glass half full.