“If I’m not on the grid at least let me be aligned with a top team”: Daniel Ricciardo explains move to Red Bull for the 2023 season
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Daniel Ricciardo could be seen on ESPN as an F1 broadcaster
Putting an end to all the speculations and predictions from the fans about the future of his career in Formula 1 now that he has been released from his contract with McLaren prematurely, Daniel Ricciardo has made the move back “home” to Red Bull Racing in a reserve role. The Milton-Keynes-based team welcomed him with a statement on their official Twitter page, and Christian Horner expressed his thoughts on Red Bull recruiting Ricciardo once again. But Daniel Ricciardo has been quiet about the entire affair except for reporting RBR’s tweet and saying “Looking forward to returning home.”
Many of the F1 followers have questioned why Daniel Ricciardo sought the option to go to Red Bull as their reserve driver when he could have picked up the role of a regular driver for Haas. They also wanted answers to why the Honey Badger went back to the team that he had left in 2018 for Renault, rather than choosing to go to some other team such as Mercedes, who were also in need of a reserve driver. Finally, in an interview with Speedcafe, Daniel Ricciardo clarified his philosophy behind moving to Red Bull as their reserve driver.
In the interview, Daniel Ricciardo mentioned that his role in the current World Championship-winning team will not see him go out to races yet as Liam Lawson is still there in Red Bull as their reserve driver. But he also said that he felt like he needs some time to “step back” and introspect about his future years in F1 so that he can be back to the grid with a bang.
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Daniel Ricciardo explains why he made the move to Red Bull for a non-racing role
While 2022 might not have been his year, Daniel Ricciardo is an eight-time Grand Prix winner, and has seen considerable success in his F1 career that has spanned more than a decade. So, even when McLaren dropped him from their deal to take up Oscar Piastri, fans did not expect the Honey Badger to completely go off the grid and take up a reserve role. But now he has explained why he did so. He has said, “Obviously there were talks with other teams and I was like ‘okay, if I’m not on the grid at least let me be aligned with a top team. It’s nice to be in a winning environment, I think you learn a lot.”
He further explained, “Also, being linked with a top team, a bit like [Nyck] de Vries was with Mercedes, you’re living with a top team – I feel like you’re more, I don’t want to use the word relevance, but you’re kind of more recognised and less forgotten.“
Thus, even though the fans are shocked at Daniel Ricciardo’s decision to move to Red Bull, the Australian seems like he knows what he is doing. Fans now believe it is only a matter of fact before Daniel gets back to a racing role and wows everyone with his newfound speed. Only time will tell if these predictions will come true or not.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)