“Seems pretty happy,” F1 journalist notes Daniel Ricciardo’s ease with new non-driving role at Red Bull


“Seems pretty happy,” F1 journalist notes Daniel Ricciardo’s ease with new non-driving role at Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo is all-set to spend his first season away from regular racing in Formula 1 ever since he first stepped into the king class of motorsports in 2011. The Australian has spent a long 12 years speeding on the racetracks and now, it suddenly seems like he has lost his drive and needs to take some time away from the races to build up his mindset again. Thus, despite the multi-year contract that McLaren had signed with him, the Woking-based outfit decided it would be best to let go of the Honey Badger early on by paying him a hefty fee of $18 million.

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Fans of the 33-year-old were shocked to learn that Daniel Ricciardo would not continue in the 2023 F1 season as a regular driver for McLaren. And ultimately, worse news was in store for them as Ricciardo failed to secure a seat at any of the teams as a regular racer, and had to settle for a reserve driver position at Red Bull–the team that he had left in 2018 allegedly because of a massive ego clash with Max Verstappen. And thus, Daniel, who was once Red Bull’s golden boy, returned home after some short stints at Renault and McLaren.

Although Red Bull have taken up Daniel Ricciardo as their third driver with a non-driving role, renowned journalist Chris Medland noted how happy the Aussie seemed with his position in the topmost team in F1 at their car launch. The grand curtain-raiser for the RB-19 took place in New York and recorded the attendance of Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez as well as Daniel Ricciardo–and there, Medland observed that the Honey Badger seemed almost “relaxed” with his new role.

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Celebrated F1 journalist notes Daniel Ricciardo’s demeanor at the Red Bull car launch

Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Having been one of the highest-paid Formula 1 racers on the grid in 2019 and being reduced to having a non-driving role in a span of only four years, fans would expect Daniel Ricciardo to be sour about how his career has declined recently. But Chris Medland said, “One of the biggest takeaways I had from today [Red Bull launch day] was just how relaxed Daniel Ricciardo seems to be with his new role. He’s really looking forward to not racing, and seems pretty happy with it being a year of transition to different career paths if that’s what it ends up being.”

In other news, there are many F1 pundits who believe Daniel Ricciardo’s appointment at Red Bull is supposed to be a wake-up call aimed at Sergio Perez to perform better in the upcoming season. The Austrian team has always been ruthless with their recruitments–demoting Pierre Gasly mid-season because his results failed to impress the team executives, and dropping Alex Albon for the same reasons. If Perez wants to keep his job as a Red Bull racer alongside Max Verstappen, he will have to match the Dutchman’s speed and perform at a superior level in F1 2023.

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