There has been a lot of speculation about Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 future since RB sacked him after the Singapore GP last month. The Aussie driver doesn’t have a contract with any team for 2025 and at the age of 35, many feel that his career is over. Amid this, Ricciardo has also dropped a hint about his retirement from the sport.
The Honey Badger’s friend, Motocross rider Adam Cianciarulo posted a story on Instagram that showed a photo of Ricciardo with himself and another rider friend of theirs. The former Red Bull driver was wearing a cap that had a message written on it. The message read, “I’m retired – having a good time is my job.”
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Ricciardo seemed at peace in this photograph and has been posting on social media frequently, which suggests that he is fine.
Two weeks have passed the Singapore GP — an emotional race for him and while it wasn’t official, Ricciardo perhaps knew that RB (Red Bull’s sister team) would drop him to bring in Liam Lawson.
It was a tough pill for him to swallow, as the Aussie had been pushing to return to the top with Red Bull. However, he couldn’t do enough to convince the Austrian outfit with an inconsistent season at RB.
Besides the photograph with the cap, Ricciardo also posted pictures of him dirt biking in California with Cianciarulo. In those pictures too, the Honey Badger’s wide grin was as glorious as it had ever been in F1 — hinting towards Ricciardo accepting that his time in F1 could be over.
While Sauber/Audi still has a vacant seat for 2025, Ricciardo is nowhere close to landing that seat with others (including Franco Colapinto and Gabriel Bortoleto) being on its shortlist.
Ricciardo wants to move on
As tough as it may be, Ricciardo might have to let go of his dream of returning to the top, with no feasible opportunities at any leading teams given his poor performances. Even he admitted that he hasn’t done enough to earn a spot at a top team, following his consistent struggles at McLaren and Red Bull.
In Singapore, Ricciardo mentioned that he didn’t wish to stretch his career and hold up a seat in F1. He said, “I always said I don’t want to come back just to be on the grid; I want to try and fight back at the front and get back at Red Bull. Obviously, it didn’t come to fruition.”
Nevertheless, Ricciardo is still more than just an F1 driver owing to his immense popularity in the sport. He has a very charming and presentable personality which could be a perfect fit for media and broadcasting.
As far as racing is concerned, he would have to look at other disciplines like IndyCar or NASCAR. However, even that is something Ricciardo doesn’t fancy at the moment.
