After getting the axe from Red Bull’s sister team, Daniel Ricciardo still has a chance of a soft landing by becoming the senior team’s reserve driver. However, the Aussie is not willing to do so as he believes this would mean that he will have to start his career from square one again.
According to SpeedCafe, Ricciardo said, “Obviously last year it made a lot of sense to keep one foot in the door, and obviously big picture was to try and get back at Red Bull. I think if I was to do that again, there’s not really… I’m not going to restart my career.“
Ricciardo took up a ‘third driver’ role at Red Bull after McLaren sacked him at the end of 2022. While it was a more myriad role than just doing the duties of a reserve driver, the eight-time race winner was spending time on the sidelines as Red Bull’s backup man.
Helmut Marko confirms to Sky Germany that Ricciardo will be Red Bull reserve in 2023 pic.twitter.com/a3XXp0Foc5
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) November 18, 2022
Nevertheless, Ricciardo fulfilled his objective of taking up that role to return to the F1 grid in mid-2023. After AlphaTauri (now RB) onboarded him in place of Nyck de Vries from the Hungarian GP, the Honey Badger renewed his hopes of getting back to Red Bull through this opportunity.
Eventually, it hasn’t worked out as Ricciardo is once again out of a seat just 13 months after his comeback. So, the 35-year-old perhaps understands that his time in the sport is more or less over with younger drivers coming through.
Ricciardo admitted the same about how the younger lot of drivers have a lot more infrastructure like simulators and onboard data to become better drivers at an early age. Moreover, his form deteriorating with age hasn’t helped him to compete like he used to. While he still hasn’t ruled out a full-time comeback, it is unlikely for now.
Ricciardo doesn’t want to stretch his F1 career
After winning races and getting several podiums, Ricciardo only had one unfulfilled goal in F1 — winning the world championship. With several questionable career moves in hindsight, the Aussie hasn’t been able to get a car that can help him challenge for a championship.
So, at the age of 35, he doesn’t wish to stretch his career for the sake of it and drive in midfield cars. Even after his McLaren sacking in 2022, Ricciardo stated that he wished to fight for wins and championships with a top team. That is why he did not wish to take up offers from midfield or backmarker teams just to stay on the grid.
Ricciardo believes getting knocked out in Q1 and Q2 every weekend isn’t something that appeals to him any longer. He wished to leave the sport with “good memories”. Apparently, his exit from RB hasn’t exactly given him that. The Aussie had to face a Q1 elimination at his last race weekend in Singapore.
Even in the race, he couldn’t get a good result to bow out on a good note. Eventually, Ricciardo finished 18th [effectively last] and took a glory run at the fastest lap in the closing stages of the race. This certainly wouldn’t have been the fairytale ending to his F1 career he would have thought of.
