Daniel Ricciardo insists he is not ARROGANT as he refuses to start F1 career from scratch and won’t drive for top team until 2024
- Aussie is back at Red Bull as reserve driver
- Came after split with McLaren
- Wants to return to the grid, but only with a top team
Daniel Ricciardo has refused to start his F1 career from scratch and will not drive for a top team until 2024.
Ricciardo opted to take a gap year after a disappointing two-year spell at McLaren, where he was unceremoniously sacked last year.
He is now back at Red Bull as a reserve driver and is confident of returning to the grid next season.
However, he is only interested in a top place and not one that requires him to start all over again.
Ricciardo insists his decision was not motivated by arrogance, but by his desire to perform and thrive at his best.
A happier and refreshed Ricciardo aims to return to a top driver position in 2024, but only with the right car and team
Former Australian f1 world champion Alan Jones gives sage advice to Ricciardo at the Aussie GP in Melbourne
He believes that starting all over won’t energize him or give him the second wind he’s looking for.
“I knew this would be a risk to clearly remove myself from a chair. But I think it’s clear what I don’t want. I do not want [just] every seat next year… I don’t want to just start from scratch and build my kind [F1] career from the start,” he said.
‘It’s not coming from an arrogant angle. But I’m just past that. I don’t think that will energize me or give me that second wind I’m looking for.
“So it makes the top seats even scarcer. But that’s where I know I’ll be able to perform and thrive at my best.”
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has revealed that Ricciardo picked up some bad habits during his time at McLaren, suggesting he overcompensated for a bad car.
However, the Red Bull team has gathered around him to rebuild him. Ricciardo now feels more confident and has left behind the lows he felt under Zak Brown.
“I felt like everyone was excited for me to come back and it was kind of open arms,” he said.
“I didn’t expect everyone I worked with to be this high [about it] the way I am. I think it’s cool. I’ve moved on, I’ve grown up. I have lived and learned. And I kind of grew through it.
“The first day back at Red Bull in the simulator was the most fun I’ve ever had in a simulator. Which is crazy, especially since at this point in my career that’s normally the boring job.
‘But Simon [Rennie], my engineer at the time at Red Bull, he now runs the sim. So it was like we were back in the routine of 2018 and mate, I loved it. It took me a few laps to get going and once I did it all felt familiar again.
“I’d honestly say my self-confidence had gone from probably pretty low in a day to the level I remember.”
Ricciardo does behind the scenes work for Red Bull and is part of the support crew for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
Ricciardo poses for a photo with tennis champion Ashleigh Barty in the Paddock during qualifying ahead of the Australian F1 Grand Prix at Albert Park
One team that could be interested in the Aussie F1 star is Haas, with team boss Guenther Steiner revealing he had spoken to Ricciardo prior to landing in the Formula 1 paddock Down Under.
However, Steiner insisted those talks do not include contract negotiations for 2024.
“Not at the moment, Daniel is with Red Bull, I don’t know for how long,” Steiner told Sky Sports News.
“I was actually on a plane to Australia with Danny, so we had a bit of a chat. Not about the contract but about life in general, we didn’t even go there to be honest.
“I don’t know, Danny wanted to take a year off and then see what he wants to do next and I think when he’s ready he’ll call people up and say, ‘I’m ready again.’