Daniel Ricciardo issues update on return to F1 after two-year absence
Daniel Ricciardo has offered an update on potentially returning to Formula 1 - and to motorsport in general - in any capacity after two years away.
The Australian last drove for Racing Bulls during the 2024 season, before he was dropped after the Singapore Grand Prix.
He set the fastest lap in his final race following a late pitstop - much to the ire of McLaren team boss Zak Brown, who accused Red Bull of allowing a member of their junior team to take the fastest lap point off Lando Norris; the Brit was then fighting Max Verstappen for the Drivers' Championship.
Following the race, Ricciardo said his farewells to members of the paddock, and was replaced by Liam Lawson for the remainder of the 2024 season.
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Lawson was promoted up to Red Bull for 2025, but Racing Bulls opted to put Isack Hadjar in the second seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
Of course, Lawson and Tsunoda would swap places just two races in to the season, with Hadjar now the latest victor of the Red Bull roulette to team up with Verstappen in 2026.
The overwhelming likelihood is that Ricciardo's F1 career is now firmly over - though, at 36, he is only a year older than Nico Hulkenberg was when he came back to F1 with Haas in 2023.
Since his exit, he has become a brand ambassador for Ford, who are working alongside Red Bull on the F1 team's power units - meaning he still has an indirect link to the sport.
The Australian will attend next weekend's Indianapolis 500, which is the most prestigious single-seater race on the American sporting calendar.
A number of former F1 drivers, including Marcus Ericsson, Romain Grosjean, Mick Schumacher and Takuma Sato, will be participating should they qualify, while series champion Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin are among those to have been touted for potential F1 seats in the future.
'I'm really enjoying not competing...' - Ricciardo on return to motorsport and F1
Ricciardo is only visiting the race as a spectator, and says he isn't closing the door on a return to motorsport.
However, he has indicated he wants to stay away from F1, describing the intensity of the schedule as 'far from normal' now he has had time away from the sport.
"I'm really enjoying not competing where I currently sit, and just enjoying the small things in life," he told Speed Street, a podcast hosted by IndyCar oval specialist Conor Daly. "And not having to kind of be on a stage and all that.
"Do I know what I'll feel in three years, five years? No. If I was to do something maybe one day, it would definitely be more from a fun aspect than, like, 'I'm chasing some championship' aspect.
"You want to have goals, and that's obviously what gives you that purpose in the morning. To wake up and push yourself and get the gym, and all of that. But sometimes that can also rob some of the joy.
"I was in the F1 sphere, bubble, for so long, and I got used to how intense the schedule was. The paddock, all of it. And that became normal. But now that I'm outside of it, I'm like, 'Oh, that was as far from normal!'"
"The schedule was down to the minute, so there's a curiosity with what a week looks like for you for the biggest race of the year," he said of the Indy 500.
"So the schedule, and your personal time compared to your 'on time', I'm curious to see how that is and how laidback are the drivers, or how intense and switched on they are the whole weekend.
"I think the sheer size of the infield and the sound... that's probably what I was drawn to most with racing, how cool race cars sounded.
"Very curious to hear what you sound like wide-open and just seeing, coming into Turn 1, how scary that looks."
Topics:Ā Daniel Ricciardo, Formula 1
Ryan Smart