Former F1 driver claims Daniel Ricciardo has ‘lost the chance’ for a Red Bull return

Daniel Ricciardo had raced for Red Bull for five seasons before leaving the team at the end of 2018.

Former F1 driver claims Daniel Ricciardo has ‘lost the chance’ for a Red Bull return

Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO).

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo hasn’t won a single race since 2021. However, the chances of winning a race in AlphaTauri for Ricciardo are slim to none as the team is in the lower half of the pecking order. Hence, the Aussie aims a return to Red Bull to win some races like in his previous stint at Milton Keynes. Former F1 driver Alan Jones reckoned that the opportunity to return to the Austrian team might be lost for Ricciardo.

Alan Jones expressed his doubts over Ricciardo joining back Red Bull and claimed that the 34-year-old had lost his train with them. In addition to this, Jones asserted that Sergio Perez had a contract with the team already for the next year and there would be perhaps a young driver receiving the opportunity to drive in Red Bull. Hence, Ricciardo lost his chance to return to Milton Keynes.

I think (Ricciardo) has now lost his train with them Sergio Perez has another year with them and then there is always some small emerging star who will be given this opportunity. I honestly believe Daniel has lost the chance to return to Red Bull.
Alan Jones told Nine’s World of Sports.
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Subsequently, Jones highlighted his wish to see a different and ‘much improved’ Daniel Ricciardo in the 2024 season at AlphaTauri. The Former driver claimed that the honey badger would return with a different racing mentality on the grid.

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He will return at the beginning of next year with a different mentality.

Since Milton Keynes seemed to be out of the question for the Australian, Jones reckoned that Ricciardo could look at other options in an attempt to return to winning races in Formula 1. The 77-year-old insisted that Ferrari could do some justice to his name, but there is a very slim chance due to the team already having a great lineup of drivers.

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo (via sportsrush).

Anyhow, Ricciardo had already claimed before that winning a race again in Formula 1 was not his top priority. Winning races was just a bonus to the eight-time Grand Prix winner as he just wanted to race in F1 and improve the team that he was racing for. The Aussie did not want to fixate his career on just winning races and winning a race did not dictate his happiness of being in the sport.

Daniel Ricciardo’s return to AlphaTauri saw some good points be scored for the Faenza outfit. Although the team could not score the best results in the season due to some issues, Riccardo’s suggestions and mid-race radio calls about what felt not right in the car were very crucial for the development of the car for the team. Hence, the Aussie might be here to stay in F1.

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