Daniel Ricciardo is set to undergo a two-week Covid quarantine upon his return to Australia, a mandatory isolation period necessary for him to visit his family and friends Down Under during F1's winter break.
The McLaren driver will conclude his 2021 campaign along with his F1 colleagues this weekend in Abu Dhabi, capping a grueling season that has kept him away from his homeland all year.
For Ricciardo, the separation from his family and friends in his native country hasn't been easy to endure.
But spending a month with his loved ones is worth the relative hardship and annoyance associated with a two-week quarantine in a government-approved hotel.
"I'll be staring at a hotel room ceiling for two weeks," the McLaren driver explained in Abu Dhabi. So I'm going to go home.
"I need to, I need to get home. But it's difficult, it is difficult to get back.
"Unfortunately, they're not making it easy, but it is what it is. And I'll do that. I need to get home, see family and friends.
"So once I get out of the four walls, I should still get hopefully three or four weeks with friends and family. And it's summer, so something to look forward to."
©McLaren
Looking back on his 2021 campaign, his first with McLaren, that was marked by a worrying low-key first half as he struggled to adapt to his team's MCL35M, Ricciardo admitted that it has been one of the wildest rides in his career.
"Yeah, I'd say so," he said. "The second half of 2018 had its challenges, and at the time, that was the most for me, but this year is a whole, yeah absolutely.
"Thinking about the first half and then the highs. It's been pretty wild. But I certainly reflect on the second half of the season. Much better than where I was kind of reflecting back in August."
Indeed, Ricciardo enjoyed a strong outing at Zandvoort that preceded his fantastic return to the winner's circle in Monza, a triumph which, in hindsight, occupies a special place in his career.
"The more time that passes since Monza the more actually, that I realise the effect of that," he explained.
"And I really do think it was the biggest moment, win, race, kind of day, if you will, of my motorsport career."
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