“A whole year of doing nothing won’t be good”: Daniel Ricciardo plans on using F1 sabbatical as opportunity to compete in other racing ventures

Daniel Ricciardo lost out on his F1 seat at the end of the 2022 season. He had a contract that ran until the 2023 campaign, but his poor performances over the last two seasons made McLaren take the decision of sacking him. Unfortunately for Ricciardo, it meant that he won’t be racing full-time next year.

According to reports, some teams like Haas and Williams were eying the former McLaren star for a potential seat. However, he did not want to stay in F1 just for the sake of it with a team that would spend a whole year at the back of the grid. This is why he made the tough call of stepping away and signing with Red Bull as a reserve driver instead.

Ricciardo returned to the team that made him a star in F1 after spending four turbulent seasons away. The 33-year-old won’t be a main driver for the team, but he is looking forward to taking part in some races so that he doesn’t lose touch with the sport. He also wants to explore a few other racing ventures, most notably the 24 hours of Le Mans.

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Daniel Ricciardo admits that he needs a break

Ricciardo won’t be an F1 driver for the first time since 2011 when he made his debut for HRT. The following year he joined Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosson and stayed there for two years. His move to Red Bull the following year started his journey toward the top.

He won seven races with Red Bull and finished on the podium 29 times. In 2019, however, he felt like pursuing a new challenge which made him shift to Renault. Two podium finishes in two seasons did not satisfy him and he joined McLaren. However, his stint in Woking turned out to be a nightmare that ended at the 2022 Abu Dhabi GP.

Now that he’s away from F1 for the time being, he wants to focus on himself and maybe take part in other racing series.

“A race like Le Mans could be interesting but not the whole series,” he said to AMuS. “I would be the same as now, just with different cars. I need a break. It’s a journey into the unknown.

“And I’ll be on the lookout for a chance to come back in 2023. If there were one, I want to be as prepared as possible. With one foot, I’ll remain in the scene. A whole year of doing nothing would not be a good plan.”

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