Daniel Ricciardo first spent the winter break staring at the hotel ceiling for two weeks and then finally in his home country, but the Australian has been back at McLaren since last week.
The team posted a photo on Twitter of Ricciardo standing on the front wheel of a McLaren car with the caption: “Day one and he’s already up to mischief in the office.” On the first day, the joker of Formula 1 is already doing nonsense again.
Ricciardo had already warmed up at the factory ahead of Friday’s car launch and got ready for the new season, which kicks off with a three-day ‘shakedown’ in Barcelona on February 23.
The winter break was important for all drivers after the long year 2021. But it was even more important for those with the longest distance home, who were prevented from returning home for a long time by entry restrictions.
Homesickness is an underestimated challenge faced by many at the highest level of motorsport. Having built a professional racing career is an achievement in itself when you consider the geographical difficulties and sacrifices required to rise through the junior series.
Ricciardo: Harder to get through valleys
But that doesn’t mean that the longing for home is suddenly gone: Ricciardo spoke openly last year about the effects of homesickness and explained why he has to go back to Australia in winter – even if that means a two-week quarantine.
He had not seen his family and friends since June 2020 due to the travel restrictions. And when he was going through a rough patch, he couldn’t just call them up and plane them in like he used to – and that hit him hard.
“I wouldn’t say it affected me driving myself,” he says. “But especially when things aren’t going well, it definitely has an effect. Because then you just want support and love from your family. And when things aren’t going well, you can also feel very lonely.”
Ricciardo admitted that if his family and friends had been with him, he might have been able to shake off some frustrations after a bad race sooner.
“It made the difficult first half of the season even more draining. It was difficult for me to be pumped with energy and positivity,” he says. “I found another way, but I had to work harder for it. And that sucked a lot too.”
Also Pérez, Zhou and Tsunoda with problems
But Ricciardo is not the only one facing this challenge. Sergio Perez has previously revealed how difficult it was for him to move from Mexico to Europe as a teenager. Formula 1 rookie Guanyu Zhou faced similar difficulties when he moved to Europe from China to reach the premier class.
It was similar for Yuki Tsunoda, who entered F1 as a great hope from Honda and Red Bull but then faltered as he struggled with confidence.
Red Bull sent Tsunoda to Faenza from Milton Keynes to be closer to his team AlphaTauri. The Japanese admitted to being a “lazy bastard” before and spending too much time playing video games instead of preparing for a weekend.
It was a tough lesson for Tsunoda, but one he needed at 21. 2021 was only his third year in Europe, having only switched to Formula 3 from Japan in 2019 and living in France.
“I was a little concerned because up until then I had never lived alone,” says Tsunoda. “It was the first time and it was in a foreign country. I had a few worries, but it was okay.”
Never in a restaurant in France
Tsunoda even always cooked his own meals in France: “I wasn’t brave enough to go to a restaurant and speak French, so I always bought ingredients at the supermarket and cooked myself every day.”
It may seem strange, but seemingly small factors can have a huge impact on comfort zones, even for professionals. And if you want to get the best possible performance, you need the best possible comfort and you have to be set in as many areas of life as possible.
Tsunoda now feels at home in Italy: “I prefer to be here,” he says in comparison to Milton Keynes. “I like the weather more and I also like the food a lot. And of course I can go to the factory after every race and analyze the sessions to improve. That’s definitely good.”
In the winter, Tsunoda was able to go back to Japan and have a restart similar to Ricciardo’s. On Instagram, he posted pictures with friends and appeared to be having a good time, which could give a boost for 2022.
But with travel restrictions hopefully relaxed around the world, the impact of homesickness could hopefully lessen for drivers who spend large parts of their lives away from family and friends.
Just as we give greater consideration to the impact of factors such as mental health in motorsport, the challenge of being far from home must also be appreciated – especially when the going gets tough.