Daniel Ricciardo’s journey with McLaren has ended. After the final race in Abu Dhabi, the Australian bid farewell to Papaya overalls as he returned to his old team in Milton Keynes. However, Ricciardo had a wish in mind, and that was something other than to be with Max Verstappen and company.

Ricciardo wished his recent stint to be with Mercedes and, most importantly, with Lewis Hamilton. Talking about this, Ricciardo expressed, “As a competitor, going back to the reason why I do this, is I wanna see if I’m the best. And obviously, Lewis was so successful so many years, so I had just thought of going against him. And it wasn’t even like yeah, I know I can beat him or be against him, it’s just like I’m curious.”

“I also wanna know what makes him so good. So, obviously when you work in a team together, you see more than if you don’t work in the same environment. So, from that point of view. But yeah, to test myself, that would have been fun,” Daniel further stated in the recent F1: Beyond The Grid Podcast.

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Daniel Ricciardo joined Red Bull as their reserve driver for the 2023 season. After initial confirmations by their advisor Helmut Marko and then by team principal Christian Horner, the Honey Badger finally returned to the team he left after the 2018 F1 season.

Why Daniel Ricciardo chose Max Verstappen and Red Bull over Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes?

Being a Red Bull driver at the start of his career, Daniel Ricciardo always had an affection towards the Austrian team. Helmut Marko, and Christian Horner, who gave a platform to the Honey Badger when he was in his prime, share an amicable relationship among them.

However this might not be the only and exact reason why Ricciardo decided to eventually snub the German team. Talking about this, Ricciardo conveyed in In the Fast Lane podcast, “Let’s say it [Mercedes talks] kind of stalled a little bit.”

“Then the Red Bull stuff started to make more and more sense and had more and more legs, and then it naturally progressed as it did,” said the former Renault driver.

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To top it all, the fans absolutely loved the Australian’s return to his old team. The team with whom he once was a multiple Grand Prix winner.