Sad trombone: Daniel Ricciardo gives up hope of a 2023 race seat.
It was already a bit coming, but Daniel Ricciardo has now also announced that he will not be on the F1 grid in 2023. At least not as a regular driver of one of the teams. With the announcement of the transfer from Gasly to Alpine and his successor at Alpha Tauri by De Vries, there are theoretically two seats left. Namely the second seat at Haas F1 next to Magnussen and Latifi’s seat at Williams.
The honey badger was especially associated with the latter. After all, Ricciardo has a well-known fondness for America. Haas F1 in turn, likes to bet on experienced hands behind the wheel. So in that respect it seemed like a good match. However, Gunther Steiner already indicated ‘Ricciardo must first decide for himself what he wants’. And that is now became known through the man himself.
Apparently Daniel is not in the mood for a seat with a team at the back of the grid. Williams will also be eliminated immediately. Ricciardo says he thinks there will be better opportunities in 2024. However, he does not immediately see racing in another class. The focus for DR3 remains on F1. Despite his age, he therefore sees more of a test role, for example with the Mercedes team.
It’s a bit crazy, because although teams now have to let ‘young talents’ ride in free practice a few times a year, Ricciardo is not one of them. Not necessarily because he is in his thirties, but because his experience does not count him as such a ‘young talent’. For the rest, however, teams don’t do much testing anymore because of the restrictions that apply to it. So… What Ricciardo has in a test role is debatable.
DR3, however, likes to take a ‘break’ for a while. He does not have to do it for the money, after all, he will receive an eight-figure amount from McLaren for next year. Still, it is questionable whether a good team suddenly wants Ricciardo in 2024.
At Mercedes – if he went to test there – that might be possible, but only if Hamilton stops, which is not likely. At Ferrari, Ricciardo may have had his chance (he was reportedly in the running for the seat when Sainz was chosen). Although Sainz occasionally struggles with Leclerc, he does take his points and podiums. There is no real reason to think that RIC would do better.
And then in the current pecking order there are three more teams in the top five where the honey badger has already been: Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Alpine. The first has Checo as the second man under contract until 2024. McLaren is now paying to get rid of Daniel. And if Alpine had wanted another adventure with the Australian, they would have chosen him instead of Gasly for next year.
So it could be such a Mika Hakkinen sabbatical could be. One where we still think ‘okay, but when will ‘he come back?’. A bit of a shame though. But hey, it’s still F1, you never know what can happen. Perhaps the Hulk will even return to Haas F1 next year…
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