"I'm trippin' major nutsack right now" - Throwback to Daniel Ricciardo's hilarious post-qualifying interview at 2018 F1 Mexican GP
A fond memory from the qualifying session of the 2018 Mexican GP was recently shared by the official F1 X account, where Daniel Ricciardo took the pole position. The Australian has always loved the races in the west and has embraced American and Mexican culture. Hence, when he took pole position at the 2018 F1 Mexican GP, he was delighted to do so.
Right after Daniel Ricciardo completed his flying lap in Q3, he was on the provisional pole. Lucky for him, his teammate at the time, Max Verstappen, was unable to go quicker than him, solidifying his position at the top of the grid. He celebrated thoroughly on the team radio and was also beaming during his post-qualifying interview.
Speaking to David Coulthard, he said:
"I knew [the pace] was there, I knew it was there somewhere. We hadn't had the cleanest run through practice and I knew putting a lap together would be crucial as always. I knew the pace was in the car, as Max showed that whole weekend.
"I still was not convinced if it was the cleanest [lap], but yeah, once I heard I got pole I was...I gotta relax a little, I'm trippin' major nutsack right now!"
You can watch it here:
Since Daniel Ricciardo was famous for saying these hilarious lines, it became yet another one of his iconic quotes. It is still remembered by many F1 fans and often comes up in coverage during the Mexican GP.
Unfortunately, during the main 2018 F1 Mexican GP race, the Red Bull driver had to retire from the race at Lap 61 due to a hydraulics issue. It was quite heartbreaking to see him out of the race after such an amazing qualifying session.
Daniel Ricciardo on his first F1 race after his hand injury
Daniel Ricciardo suffered a serious hand injury during the 2023 F1 Dutch GP, which forced him to sit on the sidelines for five races. Finally, the Australian returned to the grid for the 2023 F1 US GP last week and had a mediocre race. However, he was satisfied with certain elements of the race weekend.
When Sportskeeda asked about his first race weekend and whether he was satisfied with everything, the AlphaTauri driver said:
“Elements, yes, like for sure there's things which I take confidence from obviously like some race fitness, the hand, a few things which even just getting behind the wheel in FP1 everyone like Lap 1, I felt like I was able to push and lean on it. So there's certainly some inner confidence in that. But I would say in race conditions, yeah. Next week I'll do better.”
At the US GP, Ricciardo finished 15th, which was dead last due to several retirees from the race.