Former F1 driver Jenson Button does not want 8 GP winner Daniel Ricciardo to take up the reserve driver role at Mercedes next season.
McLaren’s driver Daniel Ricciardo decided to terminate his contract early with the Woking-based team and is now a free agent after the current season.
While the seat at Haas, Williams, Alpine and AlphaTauri are still available, it is being reported that the honey badger is progressing the talks with Mercedes for the role of reserve driver in the next season. But former F1 driver Jenson Button does not see it as a viable choice.
Button thinks that a driver with as much calibre as Ricciardo has no business being a reserve driver. He believes that the 33-year-old won’t get anything out of the reserve driver role.
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‘You get forgotten after a year in F1’ – Button
To Button, the only way in which Ricciardo choosing the reserve driver role at the Brackley-based team would make sense is if he gets to replace their star driver Lewis Hamilton when he retires.
But Hamilton has made it clear that he is not planning to retire anytime soon which makes Ricciardo’s potential reserve role at Mercedes pointless.
The former F1 driver suggested, “So it needs to be the team where he thinks he can get a seat for 2024, otherwise it’s game over because you get forgotten after a year in F1.”
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What are the options for Daniel Ricciardo?
Ricciardo has repeatedly made it clear that he wants to be in Formula 1 and therefore is not willing to be part of any other racing series. If he does not get a seat next year, the Australian would prefer taking a sabbatical rather than participating in some other series.
Former F1 driver, Johnny Herbert, however, thinks that it would be good for the Australian to try his hands on other series.
He revealed that if he were in Ricciardo’s shoes, he’d move to take part in 24 hrs of Le Mans. The 2009 F1 champion agreed with Herbert that Le Mans would be a good way to go for Ricciardo as it would be a great opportunity for him to secure a drive with a manufacturer.
Though Button thinks that Ricciardo is not at the point yet where he wants to participate in anything said except Formula 1. “He might never do something else – like Lewis,” he further added.
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