Former World Champion Jenson Button doubts 8 GP winner Daniel Ricciardo will return to F1 after missing out on 2023 seat

For the first time since 2011, the F1 grid will not have Daniel Ricciardo in it. The Aussie loses out on a 2023 seat after McLaren decided to ax him despite a year being left on his contract. 

Ricciardo has gone on to become one of F1’s most popular drivers over the years. The best part of his career was during his Red Bull stint, where he won seven races. After leaving the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, he joined Renault with whom he had a decent spell.

However, when McLaren came calling in 2021, the Perth-born driver thought it was too good an opportunity to pass on. The papaya outfit was flying high and it seemed obvious that they would make huge strides in the coming years. Unfortunately for both of them, things did not go according to plan.

The British team showed promise in 2021 but they took a step backward this year. On top of that, Ricciardo’s stint in Surrey turned out to be a nightmare as he was comprehensively outperformed by Lando Norris. Now that he has lost his McLaren seat, the former Red Bull driver aims to spend the upcoming campaign on the sidelines. He plans on returning to Formula 1 as a full-time driver in 2024.

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Jenson Button thinks Daniel Ricciardo will struggle to return

As of now Ricciardo’s best hope of being involved in F1 next season is as a reserve driver. He has been linked to Mercedes and Red Bull to fill their reserve role, and fans are excited about the prospect of him landing a seat in either of those teams.

Former F1 Champion Jenson Button, however, does not think Ricciardo’s journey back will be easy. There are other younger talents in F1 and F2 who will get the chance to impress teams next season, and there’s a huge chance they will be chosen over a driver who isn’t in the sport at that moment.

“It’s a tricky one,” the former Brawn GP driver said to Sky Sports. “And I really struggle to see him coming back to a competitive team after having a year out.”

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Ricciardo should have accepted Haas or Williams F1 seat

Ricciardo repeatedly insisted that he did not want to stay in F1 for the sake of it. He’s an 8 GP winner and only wants to be with a team with whom he can compete at the front. There were reports of Haas/Williams being interested in him but he refused them. According to Button, this was a grave mistake.

The Brit feels that people will forget about the 33-year-old’s F1 pedigree if he’s on the sidelines for a year. “It is tough. But I still think it would have been a better move for him,” he said.

“Go into a team, work hard, show people what you can do, in a car that maybe suits your car a bit more, and then people forget what happened the year before.”