Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed that he will not be racing in Formula 1 in 2023. The Australian asserts that he will instead look to make comeback in the 2024 season.
In response to a question by Sportskeeda about how the AlphaTauri and Alpine driver announcements had influenced his intentions for the upcoming season, the Australian said:
“Yeah, to be honest. I mean the Gasly news, I was aware of, you know, I knew they were talking for a while and I knew they were very interested in Pierre so… I would say like that’s no, let’s say I was prepared for that and no surprise so. We are trying to, let’s say, navigate our way around that and figure out what was next.”
“But I think the reality is now I won’t be on the grid in ‘23. I think it’s now just trying to set up for ‘24. I think that there could be some better opportunities then, so that’s really what all this confirms and now where the sights are set.”
The Australian stated that the Alpine announcement wasn’t a surprise to him as he knew how keen the Enstone-based team was to bring Gasly on board.
However, Daniel Ricciardo revealed for the first time that he will not be on the Formula 1 grid for 2023 for the first time during the team press conference.
However, the 8-time race winner is hopeful that he will have better chances in 2024 and will be looking to make a return to the sport then.
The McLaren driver is being reportedly linked to a reserve or development driver role at the Mercedes-F1 team. The Honey Badger has previously acknowledged that this may be a viable option if he wants to stay in the sport.
No comment by Andreas Seidl on Daniel Ricciardo’s future
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl said he will wait for Ricciardo to reveal his future plans as he refused to currently comment on comment on his future.
When asked if it would be difficult to see a good driver and person like Daniel Ricciardo leave the sport, Seidl responded:
“Yeah. I would wanna wait first until he’s announcing what he’s doing and then comment.”
“Let’s wait until he announces and then comment.”
Williams and Haas are the only teams available for the Australian, and neither may be a good fit for him or his level of driving ability. However, given the changes in the driver market, a reserve or development role in a team appears to be Daniel Ricciardo’s most likely choice.
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