Under-fire F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo reveals why he wrote ‘f*** ’em all’ message on his helmet

Aussie F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has explained the obscene message fans spotted on his racing helmet at the Monaco GP2 wasn’t directed at any person or team, but was a way for him to ‘pump himself up’. 

Twitter and Reddit users took to social media to say FEA, which was written on the back of Ricciardo’s helmet, meant ‘F*** Em All’, seemingly a response to the haters after a thoroughly underwhelming year with McLaren so far.

The man himself indicated that was not the case at all.

Ricciardo revealed the phrase is a mantra of sorts that he often repeats to himself. 

‘I put it on my [Red Bull Racing] helmet in 2018 as well,’ he told Fox Sports.

‘I like to use acronyms to pump me up. It’s honestly not directed at anyone; it’s something that I’ve said for a few years, and it just kind of gets me in my happy place.

‘I think as well, as a driver, you put the helmet on and that’s also very significant of flipping the switch. It’s one of the last things I’ll see when I put the helmet on.’

Ricciardo crashed his McLaren in the second practice session at Monaco

It has been a disappointing start to the 2022 season for Ricciardo.

The ‘Honey Badger’, another phrase usually seen on his helmet, has race finishes of 14, 6, 18, 13, 12, 13 and a DNF in 2022 on the back of last year, when he won a race but finished in a disappointing 8th on just 115 points in the driver’s championship.

Monaco was yet another poor GP for Ricciardo, with a crash in practice and 14th place finish putting him squarely in the crosshairs of commentators and pundits.

Daniel Ricciardo waves to the crowd before racing in the Monaco GP

Whispers are getting louder that McLaren are preparing to jettison him, with team boss Zak Brown delivering a brutally honest appraisal of the Aussie’s season as he compared him to teammate Lando Norris.

‘Lando definitely has an edge. We obviously would like to see Daniel much closer to Lando and have a good inter-team battle,’ he told Sky Sports.

‘Daniel is just not comfortable yet with the car. We are trying everything we can, again it was a disappointing weekend.

 ‘Short of Monza and a few races, it has not met his or our expectations of what we were expecting,’ said Brown.

Ricciardo struggled badly in his McLaren at Monaco last weekend, finishing 14th while his teammate Lando Norris managed sixth

Ricciardo is spending some time in the McLaren simulator to improve on his connection with the car ahead of the Azerbaijan GP on June 12.