Daniel Ricciardo admits the cancellation of this year’s Monaco Grand Prix was tough to process, especially after watching onboard footage from previous years.
Ricciardo’s victory at Monte Carlo’s famous race in 2018 was the seventh and most recent grand prix of his F1 career. Monaco race organisers last week took the decision to cancel its 2020 event outright after it was postponed by F1 amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has left the start date of the current season in doubt.
The Australian Grand Prix, Ricciardo’s home race, was called off at late notice earlier this month. Ricciardo has only just started to accept the reality of F1’s 2020 season, which will not start until June at the earliest.
“I watched an onboard of Monaco last night and got a bit sad,” he said in an Instagram video hosted by his Renault team on Wednesday. “I don’t really know where we’re going to be. That one hurt me.
“They’re all going to hurt, for sure, Melbourne being so close as well. The reality is setting in, unfortunately.”
While the start date of the F1 season is currently unknown, championship CEO Chase Carey is still hoping to have 15 to 18 races in this calendar year. Ricciardo joked that whichever race opens the season is due a chaotic start, given how long he and his fellow drivers will have been waiting.
“I think Turn 1 is just going to be mayhem,” he said. “I’ll just watch it all unfold, and then I’ll lead the first lap. I’ll put it on pole and voluntarily start last!”