The 2022 Abu Dhabi GP was emotional for the F1 community for a number of reasons. The fact that it was the last time we saw Daniel Ricciardo drive in F1 until at least 2024 was one of them. Ricciardo is a fan favorite and they were heartbroken when McLaren announced his departure earlier this year.
The honey badger’s stint in Woking turned out to be a nightmare as he spent two years being consistently outperformed by teammate Lando Norris. In the end, McLaren decided to bring in 2021 F2 Champion Oscar Piastri in place of Ricciardo.
It’s now clear that Ricciardo won’t be a full-time driver next season. The entire grid has been decided for 2023, but there are spots open in the reserve role. Ricciardo admitted that he needed time off from F1, but does not want to lose touch with it completely. Thus, having a reserve seat at a team makes sense.
As of now, Red Bull is the favorite to land Ricciardo as their reserve driver for the 2023 season.
Also read: How Ferrari tricked Red Bull into mistake and sealed P2 with Charles Leclerc?
Daniel Ricciardo wants to be around and stay involved… to some extent
The race calendar for 2023 will be the longest and most grueling in F1 history. Teams and drivers will travel to 24 different races throughout the course of the season, and there aren’t many gaps in between. For Ricciardo, it means that he won’t travel to every single race.
“I may as well be on the grid somewhere,” he said to Sky Sports when asked about traveling to all 24 races. “I made it clear that I still need some time off for myself and to get away a little bit. I’ll be around to some extent and try to stay involved.”
The 33-year-old did not confirm his return to Red Bull yet, citing it as close. Team principal Christian Horner and advisor Helmut Marko on the other hand have both verbally confirmed Ricciardo’s homecoming.
Also read: Mercedes gives $1 million worth driver as loan to AlphaTauri to test on their 2022 car
Ricciardo ends 2022 F1 season with strong points finish
2022 has arguably been Ricciardo’s most difficult year in F1 till date. Often, he struggled to even get out of Q1 or finish in the points which McLaren did not see as ideal. Despite all his difficulties, the Perth-born driver had a decent ending to the year.
Leading up to the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo seemed to have rediscovered his form. At the Yas Marina Circuit last Sunday, he drove a solid race to bring 2 points for McLaren, as he held the retiring Sebastian Vettel off on the final lap.
