Daniel Ricciardo opens up on his success story; says he battles with…

Daniel Ricciardo reveals his battle with superstar Ryan Reynolds, why being a larrikin is the key to his success – and how he’s managed his controversial switches between F1 teams

He competes with the fastest men on the planet for a living, but now Aussie F1 star Daniel Ricciardo has revealed the other man he is trying to chase down – Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds.

Ricciardo’s infectious humour and positivity has earned him the role as Chief of Optimism at Optus and he values his standing as an influencer, regularly posting to the social media platform LinkedIn with advice, interviews and insight into the world of F1.

In an interview with LinkedIn, Ricciardo said he was locked in a battle with Hollywood funnyman Reynolds to see who can get the most followers.

The McLaren driver currently has just over 155,000 followers while Reynolds has over 328,000 subscribers to his LinkedIn page.

‘Certainly an area where we can probably compete well in the looks department,’ Ricciardo laughed.

‘Globally, his reach is still a little bit higher, so it is an ambitious target.’

Daniel Ricciardo opens up on his success story; says he battles with…

Reynolds briefly flirted with F1 in 2021 as well, introducing the British Grand Prix on a UK television network.

‘I can keep going and make it seem like I know a lot about British Grand Prix but I respect you and the sport too much,’ he said in his spot.

‘Also, I’m a little afraid of Lewis Hamilton and maybe just a Scotia in love with him as well.’

Ricciardo is an overflowing fountain of larrikinism, optimism and humour. Those are traits he said were essential ingredients to his success.

‘As a kid I was the loud one in the classroom. I’ve always been someone that likes the attention.

‘It helps a lot, I think it just helps lighten the mood.

‘I go back to simple things. I know I perform well or do well when I’m just having fun.

‘There’s always going to be pressure and a little bit of intensity around, but if you can lighten the load and just enjoy that kind of process, I just find it’s not only a more fun environment to be in but I think it’s easier to have success in that kind of setting,’

‘If I feel the pressures starting to weigh on me and I’m putting too much emphasis on it and therefore weighing myself down I’ll turn around and say ‘actually this is a chance for me to go and show off what I’ve got’.

While Ricciardo is known for his positivity, his broad smile and his love of a shoey, his F1 career hasn’t been free of criticism.

His decision to leave the highly successful Red Bull team and move to Renault in 2019 was described by F1 commentator Martin Brundle as the mistake the Australian had to make.

After two luckless seasons with the French manufacturer, Ricciardo is now with McLaren and he spoke about the qualities required to succeed in an ever-changing work environment.

‘You’re not just going to fall into a place in a day and everything is going to be peachy,’ he said.

‘Just go through it all and I think be very open minded. Be willing to learn and grow.

‘I think that is why a lot of people move around and change jobs because they want to grow and they want to push themselves that step further.

‘I think already if you are taking on that challenge, you’ve already kind of accepted it.’

Ricciardo also touched on diversity in the sport and how getting more women racing at grassroots level was essential for the future of the sport.

‘It’s really starting at the grassroots, whether it is go-karting, it is really trying to encourage women to get into from an early age,’ he said.

‘So therefore there are larger volumes and more opportunity for them to keep moving their way up to the top and obviously do it successfully.

‘There’s now the W-Series, they compete on the same track as us and some weekends they are on international TV so that is also quite inspirational for younger women to se