Daniel Ricciardo Would possibly Be Heading Again to Pink Bull as a Reserve Driver

It’s been a tricky few years for Australian F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo. After leaving Pink Bull on the finish of 2018 to affix the Renault F1 crew, he struggled to search out his footing. After which, a swap to McLaren for 2021 proved to be a fair worse transfer for the racer. Now, after being dropped from McLaren forward of the 2023 season, it seems like Ricciardo might need lastly discovered a job for subsequent yr, again at Pink Bull.

Ricciardo was ousted by McLaren earlier this yr after he did not reside as much as the crew’s expectations. After successful seven races with Pink Bull and clinching two podiums whereas at Renault, issues seemed good for his transfer to the British crew.

However, since becoming a member of them in 2021, the Aussie has struggled to familiarize yourself with the automotive and was persistently outperformed by his younger teammate, Lando Norris. Regardless of his struggles on the squad, Ricciardo stays the primary McLaren driver to win a race since Jenson Button manner again in 2012.

In racing, nonetheless, one win can’t make up for 2 years of ache. So in August, McLaren introduced it might be ending Ricciardo’s contract a yr early and bringing in younger Australian racer Oscar Piastri to take his place on the Woking-based squad.

This left Ricciardo with no seat for 2023 and with few choices left on the grid.

Because it was introduced Pierre Gasly was shifting to Alpine, Nyck de Vries would fill the vacant seat at Alpha Tauri and Nico Hülkenberg emerged as the favourite for the seat at Haas, Ricciardo’s choices have been up.

Now, it’s emerged that he’s prone to tackle a reserve driver position at a high crew subsequent yr. In response to Motorsport.com, the Australian is heading again to Pink Bull and the place it began to turn into the crew’s third driver for 2023. The positioning reviews:

“The potential of a return to Pink Bull Racing in a reserve position had been mooted in latest weeks. Ricciardo raced for the crew between 2014 and 2018, scoring seven of his eight wins for the crew and twice ending third on this planet championship.

“Though no formal announcement has been made by the crew, Pink Bull advisor [Helmut] Marko claimed Ricciardo was set to signal as a 3rd driver for subsequent yr, indicating the position can be mainly referring to ambassador occasions and present runs.”

As Pink Bull has Max Verstappen nailed down ‘until 2028 and crew mate Sergio Perez contracted till 2024, it’s unlikely Ricciardo will get referred to as again onto the grid with the squad any time quickly. As an alternative, he’ll possible simply be available in case one of many full-time drivers is compelled to overlook a race for any purpose.

In latest weeks, Ricciardo appeared happy with taking a again seat within the sport subsequent yr earlier than working in the direction of a full-time return to the grid in 2024. In addition to the Pink Bull reserve position, he was additionally linked to a swap to Mercedes for a back-up drive subsequent yr.

What do you consider the swap? Is Ricciardo proper to tackle a lesser position within the sport subsequent yr? And, now that he received’t be racing full-time within the sport, who ought to I help as a substitute? It’s at the moment a toss up between Nyck de Vries at Alpha Tauri and Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin.