Daniel Ricciardo has been sidelined ever since he suffered a wrist injury back in August. Since the 34-year-old is out of action, he decided to skip this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix and instead attend an NFL match in the United Kingdom. Ricciardo was keen to watch his man crush, Josh Allen, compete for the Buffalo Bills.
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The Honey Badger and Allen are the best of friends and have publicly revealed they have a man crush on each other. Ricciardo revealed the same when he appeared on the Pardon My Take podcast earlier this year.
“I gotta get this one out there! We’re both very comfortable saying we’re both each other’s man crush! It’s a thing,” explained Ricciardo.
Daniel Ricciardo attends Josh Allen’s game in London
Instead of appearing at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend, Daniel Ricciardo chose to travel to London to watch Josh Allen compete for the Buffalo Bills against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Decyfr Sport, which is the official broadcaster of American football games in the UK, put up a video of Ricciardo interacting with a fan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Bills Mafia has a very special guest at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today 🇦🇺@danielricciardo 🤩#Decyfr #NFL #NFLUK | @BuffaloBills @DecyfrGP @NFLUK pic.twitter.com/Hh1zvyTS8E
— Decyfr Sport (@DecyfrSport) October 8, 2023
A fan requested the Honey Badger for a picture, and the 34-year-old obliged. Ricciardo, who is enjoying his time in the UK currently, is expected to return to racing at the United States Grand Prix, which takes place from October 20 to 22.
Liam Lawson, who has replaced the Australian at AlphaTauri so far, has done a fantastic job, as he has already scored a couple of points for the team. Hence, with the New Zealander performing at a high level, Ricciardo will hope to hit the ground running as fast as possible when he returns.
Ricciardo’s return could threaten Perez’s seat at Red Bull
Soon after Daniel Ricciardo returned to the grid with AlphaTauri this season, he made it abundantly clear that he wanted to drive for Red Bull sometime in the future. If the Australian does perform at his best when he returns, it will not bode well for Sergio Perez, who is coming under increasing pressure this season.
Even though the Mexican is currently second in the championship, he has been way off the pace as compared to Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen. As a result, many experts over the course of the 2023 season have suggested that Red Bull are just evaluating their options before they decide which of their drivers can replace Perez. As things stand, Red Bull currently has three drivers who are eying that second seat at Red Bull.
They include Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda, and Liam Lawson. Hence, if Ricciardo is keen to get the nod ahead of both Tsunoda and Lawson, he will hope to deliver with AlphaTauri for the rest of this season and next year. So far, he has competed in two races since his return to the grid this season and has registered one 13th and one 16th-place finish.
