30 Max Verstappen Wins Later, Daniel Ricciardo Looks Over His Shoulder to Dissect Shock 2018 Red Bull Departure: “I Would Have Had More Podiums…”

Daniel Ricciardo has completed the full circle in F1 by going back to where it all started for him. The Australian driver is out of a full-time drive for 2023. Thus, he has signed up with his former team Red Bull as a reserve driver. While he seeks out a return to F1, Ricciardo has time to reflect and introspect on his F1 career so far.

On the F1 Beyond the Grid podcast, Daniel Ricciardo opened up on the what-if scenario of if he had stayed at Red Bull post 2018. Tom Clarkson referred to the fact that Max Verstappen has got 30 wins with Red Bull since Daniel left. On this, Ricciardo answered whether he regrets leaving the Milton Keynes outfit or not.

He said, “I don’t look at it like that. Because nothing is sure in terms of… you know If I stayed there [for] the last 4 years. Could I say I would have had more podiums than I have had because of what have I had – maybe 3 or something. Yeah like I am confident to say I would have had more podiums than I have had.”

“But you just don’t know if, obviously at that time I felt like It was right for me [to leave Red Bull]. And I felt like I needed to change and I needed to kind of remove myself a little bit. It’s not a sure thing that it would have been great if I stayed.”

Ricciardo alluded to the fact that he felt right to take the call and leave Red Bull in 2018. He accepted that he took a gamble on his career by moving to Renault, though he enjoyed the 2020 season as one of his best seasons in F1.

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The Honey Badger has suffered a couple of rough seasons with McLaren in 2021 and 2022. The Woking outfit decided to end Daniel’s contract a year early, leaving him out of a seat for next year.

How did Daniel Ricciardo fare with Red Bull the first time around?

Daniel Ricciardo was the breakaway star who entered Red Bull in 2014. Partnering with the 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, Daniel straightway was on the pace, beating his German teammate in the championship. Ricciardo won 3 races that season, with Vettel staying winless.

Ricciardo was touted as a potential world champion and was Red Bull’s #1 driver until the prodigy named Max Verstappen arrived. Verstappen was younger and arguably faster than Ricciardo. So naturally, he steadily gained everyone’s trust at Milton Keynes.

Although Daniel and Max went well initially as teammates. But then the duo had several on-track incidents, causing a team dynamic issue. While Red Bull’s inconsistent reliability with the Renault power units also frustrated the Aussie, he decided to quit the team.

Eventually, after 4 frustrating seasons at Renault and McLaren with just 1 win and 2 podiums in total, the Honey Badger decided to return to Red Bull. Being out of a seat for 2023, Daniel signed up as the third driver for Red Bull for next year. It hasn’t been awkward to return to his former team, though it certainly may not have been his first choice.

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Either way, Ricciardo will have to endure at least a year on the sidelines. Whether he gets a comeback in F1 will be a burning question. What do you think? Is Daniel Ricciardo’s career in F1 done? Or is there hope for him to make a return?