Daniel Ricciardo has revealed how he got a huge confidence boost when legendary driver Michael Schumacher gave him some well-chosen words of encouragement as he was starting in the sport.
The Aussie F1 star was driving for Toro Rosso in 2012 – his first year in the sport, aged just 23 – when he managed to hold the German great at bay for 17 laps as they chased points at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka.
Ricciardo finished in 10th, winning the last points of the race, and branded the effort one of the top three drives of his career, saying he surprised himself with his ability to defend against the seven-time world champ.
‘I was still intimidated by him at that time. I was like, he’s god,’ Ricciardo recalled.
‘That was a very important race for me, which is not talked about because I finished 10th,’ he told Speedcafe. ‘But personally, for me, it was really big.
‘It was followed up by him congratulating me [at] the following race on the drivers’ parade. I remember he came up and said, ‘Good job last week defending.’
‘That, for me, getting a bit of confirmation from someone like that, at that age and that point in my career, was huge.
‘Maybe he didn’t realize at the time what he was doing, but he boosted my confidence a lot.’
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It would be Schumacher’s final season in F1 after he’d come out of a brief retirement to race for Mercedes for two years.
In December 2013 he suffered a horror skiing accident that resulted in him being placed in a medically induced coma.
He was brought to the family’s Lake Geneva home in September 2014 where a team of medical staff now support his wife Corinna in looking after the 53-year-old.
Ricciardo drove for Toro Rosso for one more season before being promoted to the Red Bull team, where he replaced fellow Aussie Mark Webber and racked up seven of his eight grand Prix victories.