After Daniel Ricciardo was ousted from McLaren last year, there were reports that the Australian driver decided to stay off the grid instead of siding with backmarkers such as Haas. However, a recent report by Business F1 revealed otherwise.
As per the report, Ricciardo was ready to invest millions in order to have a seat at Haas and stay on the grid for the 2023 season. The American team’s seat was available after they decided to sack Mick Schumacher last year.
As the Honey Badger decided to invest the money he received from McLaren’s redundancy, he untimely had to back off. After Ricciardo was consulted about the move by his agent Nick Thimm, he advised him not to move forward and have the Haas deal.
After ruling the Kannapolis seat out, the Australian is now the reserve driver in Red Bull, behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. However, chances are, there’s no seat availability in Red Bull for him as well.
Ricciardo, the canceled Haas move and more
The 33-year-old, who was ready to pay off the sum to buy the Haas seat, received a counteroffer from the boss Guenther Steiner. The Haas principal, after a round of discussion with the team, higher-ups decided to ask for $15 million.
Ricciardo, who received $20 million from McLaren after having to deliver his seat to compatriot Oscar Piastri, didn’t budge for the offer, even though he could have afforded it.
Looking forward to returning home 😊 https://t.co/cT3yFUXBhz
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) November 23, 2022
He did not sign because his agent Thimm believed that Ricciardo was ‘not finished as yet’ and he’s still got many more years in him. With the Honey Badger withdrawing, Haas called Nico Hulkenberg back for the seat alongside Kevin Magnussen.
What’s next for Ricciardo?
With Daniel Ricciardo taking a year off in 2023, he is expected to make a comeback. This is added to the fact that the Australian will be 34 years old next season. Hence, it’ll be interesting to see in which team he lands himself finally.
Admittedly, there seems to be no space available for him in the top teams, such as Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, or even Aston Martin or Alpine. Furthermore, at least half a dozen younger drivers are waiting in the wings for a chance.
With the top six teams being out of the equation, the only team that remains in contention is Alfa Romeo, who are currently happy with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Apart from these teams, AlphaTauri, Williams, and Haas are backmarkers in which Ricciardo has no interest.
