Daniel Ricciardo Throws in the Towel as F1 Career Comes to a Standstill

Daniel Ricciardo had his future in limbo after he was finding it difficult to land a seat in Formula 1 for 2023. McLaren and Ricciardo will mutually part ways after the current season concludes. The Australian now seems to have made peace with not being in Formula 1 in 2023.

Pierre Gasly’s move to Alpine was announced on Saturday. With that announcement came the confirmation of Nyck de Vries replacing him at AlphaTauri. The two news meant that Ricciardo will most probably not be racing in 2023. Even though there is still one seat each up for grabs at Williams and Haas, the Honey Badger does not seem interested.

Daniel Ricciardo makes peace with not racing in F1 in 2023

Daniel Ricciardo admitted he knew about Gasly’s news. He said that he was aware of Alpine being in touch with the Frenchman. Ricciardo was prepared for it and tried to “navigate” around the situation.

The Honey Badger continued, “but I think the reality is now I won’t be on the grid in 2023, I think it’s now just trying to set up for ’24.”

“I think that there could be some better opportunities then so that’s really what all this confirms and now where the sights are set,” he said. Ricciardo addressed the rumors of him joining Mercedes as a reserve driver in 2023. He said that the plan was still to be involved in F1.

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The 33-year-old confessed he wants to hit “pause for a little bit,” and then the intention is to return in 2024.

Ricciardo’s disappointing show in qualifying at Suzuka

Ricciardo had an impressive race at the rain-hit Singapore GP. While drivers were dropping like flies on a wet track, the Aussie kept his nerve and delivered his season-best result so far, finishing P5. It looked like he will carry the momentum in Japan but the fans were left disappointed.

Ricciardo bowed out of the qualifying in the second session. The Honey Badger landed on the wrong side of luck after missing out on Q3 by 0.003s, beaten by Sebastian Vettel. The driver-facing camera showed the Australian was visibly upset after he was told about it on the radio.

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The weather forecast for Sunday shows that there could be rain during the race. Ricciardo shined his way through a rain-affected wet track in Singapore. Who knows? The rain might bring some drama with it, and the McLaren driver could make the most of it.