Ricciardo doesn't care about social media: 'Not all get you'

Formula 1 drivers are under a magnifying glass. On social media, they are often the subject of conversation: one thinks you're great, the other definitely not. This means that the drivers sometimes have to have a thick skin.

Daniel Ricciardo has also experienced the hard edges of social media. Especially at times when performance lags behind, a lot of criticism is delivered via Twitter, for example. In an extensive interview with Sports Illustrated the Australian says he has learned to deal with this. "Not everyone gets you, and that's okay," he says.

Yet Ricciardo also had to learn to deal with online criticism. He says he read a hundred positive things and one negative thing, and that's what stayed with him. Meanwhile, the McLaren driver realizes that only what people in your immediate surroundings think of you counts. "If it's a stranger behind a computer, then ultimately their opinion should have no influence on you, unless it's an overwhelming opinion of millions of people."

Criticism or not, Ricciardo always wants to stay true to himself. As long as he does so, the Australian does not care what is thought about him, he informed the American Medium.