Daniel Ricciardo became one of the biggest stars in F1 during his first Red Bull stint. He won seven races with the Milton-Keynes-based team but it failed to materialize into a Title win, particularly because of Mercedes’ dominance in that era.
Ricciardo wanted a new challenge away from Red Bull, who had a rising star in Max Verstappen at their disposal. This is why the Aussie moved to Enstone to join Renault, hoping that it would help him step up in his career. Unfortunately, the French outfit could provide Ricciardo with a car that was capable of winning races and after two podium finishes in two years, he moved to McLaren.
The 33-year-old’s McLaren move was huge on paper and a partnership with rising star Lando Norris excited many fans. For Ricciardo, however, his McLaren tenure turned out to be a nightmare. He struggled to match Norris in terms of pace or results and was comprehensively outperformed by the Brit. Despite having a contract until the end of 2023, the Woking squad sacked him early and he is now left without a full-time seat for 2023.
Ricciardo did not want to stay in F1 and drive for a weaker team, so he decided to return to the team that made him a star, Red Bull.
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Red Bull boss talks about the return of Daniel Ricciardo to Milton-Keynes
Just a few days after the 2022 season finale, Ricciardo announced Red Bull as his next destination. Sadly for him and his millions of fans, his role there will be that of a reserve driver, and it is unlikely that we will see him race.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is very happy about Ricciardo returning. However, he also took a dig at the Perth-born driver for choosing to leave in the first place. He looked back on Ricciardo as a Red Bull family member, since he joined the Austrian team as a teenager and grew up around them.
“Daniel joined us as a teenager,” said Horner to The Mirror. “And he grew up with the team here. He had some great success here with us. And then he went and did something stupid and went to drive for a couple of other teams.”
Ricciardo finished his last season for McLaren in 11th place in the Drivers’ Standings with 37 points. With Sergio Perez’s contract expiring in two years, Ricciardo will be hoping to make his return as a full-time driver with the team where it all started for him.
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