Daniel Ricciardo has remained his true cheery self, joking that “Red Bull is going to have three cars on the grid next year” after returning to the team as a reserve driver for the 2023 season. After McLaren decided to terminate Ricciardo’s contract a year early, the Australian was unable to find a seat at another team.
As a result, he has returned to Red Bull as their third driver behind two-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. This comes following links with a backup role at Mercedes.
Ricciardo made his F1 debut for HRT in 2011 while under contract with Red Bull, before spending two seasons with Red Bull’s feeder team Torro Rosso. He then replaced fellow Australian Mark Webber at Red Bull in 2014 and partnered Sebastian Vettel, Daniil Kvyat and Verstappen across a four-year stint.
However, he decided to leave Red Bull in 2018 and spent two seasons with Renault, before making an ill-fated move to McLaren. When asked about his decision to depart Red Bull, Ricciardo told Grandprix.com: “I do believe I did the right thing.
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“I really needed to do it but for sure, on paper, you could say that if I had stayed in Red Bull I would have got more podiums, probably would have won more races, so I get it when people tell me I should never have left, but I truly believe I needed this.
“Also, looking back at 2020, I feel that was one of my best seasons in Formula One, from a self-evaluation, so I did, let’s say, success post-Red Bull, and where Red Bull is today it’s a phenomenal one place, but my 2018 season with them was a disaster.
“It started really well with two wins in six races, but then I didn’t get another podium, I didn’t finish on eight or nine occasions, and I’m not throwing back to them, but I wasn’t very happy then .
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“So, I feel like I needed to try something else, so when I look back at that time and how I felt in 2018, I still stand by, I still think I did the right move. Did it work out perfectly?
“No, it didn’t, but I still feel I needed to answer that question of what could be and it has been answered, I’m totally OK with it.
I think Red Bull is going to have three cars on the grid next year, so I’ll be OK [laughs].”
