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Ricciardo stopped caring about statistics

10:21, 27 Dec 2018

byBevan Youl

Daniel Ricciardo says that he stopped caring about statistics in comparison to team-mate Max Verstappen in Formula 1.

Ricciardo won in China and Monaco at the beginning of the year but failed to make it onto the podium for the rest of the season after a variety of car issues left him sixth in the championship standings.

Verstappen finished fourth in the championship with wins in Austria and Mexico and eleven podiums. Ricciardo admitted that it was frustrating at first but coped by not caring about it.

"I think I got to a point, probably around the mid-season break, where I just didn't care about the stats anymore," Ricciardo said (Autosport.com).

"I knew I was probably going to get done in qualifying this year, who cares? I may end up with fewer points, who cares? I just want to do what I can and if it works, it works and if it doesn't, life goes on.”

"Of course, I did care, but it was just that I didn't want to put it on a pedestal. I already had so many other things on my mind. I didn't need to fill it with more expectations.”

"If I did the best job I could: maybe I could beat him but if not, so be it and I'll live to fight another day."

Ricciardo, who decided during the break in the summer season to leave Red Bull in favour of Renault, said that even the start of the season didn’t go to plan.

"When you think about it, I won two out of six, but with the other four actually, there was always some drama. In Melbourne, I had a penalty before the season even began, so I was already ready to put my fricking elbow through a wall.”

"In Bahrain, my race was over after a lap. In China, I won in kind of a spectacular fashion.”

"Then there's Baku, and we all know what happened in Baku.”

"As good as the first six races were, it kind of shaped the whole year really and that craziness has continued."