“Out of Love” Daniel Ricciardo Given Hectic Red Bull Agenda to Fill Gaping Hole of F1 Racing

After all this time, Daniel Ricciardo winds up at the one place he wished to get away from – Red Bull. While his 4 years away from the team may have given him reality checks, Daniel now hopes to rekindle his love for F1. The Australian will stand in as a third driver for Red Bull in 2023. Although his role won’t just be related to commercial activities and sim work as per Christian Horner.

The RBR boss revealed how Ricciardo is going to play a bigger role than just a third driver for marketing purposes. As per Speedcafe TV, Horner said, “Daniel [Ricciardo] will be attending some races [in 2023] where obviously he’ll be our reserve driver for those events.”

Christian cited how they felt that the 8-time race winner may have fallen “out of love” with F1. He added how his couple of tough seasons with McLaren may have caused this. Nonetheless, he further stated what else is in store for Daniel at Milton Keynes.

Horner stated, “He’ll probably do a bit of tire testing for us to help with the Pirelli program that gets distributed around the teams. He’ll be doing some work in the simulator.” Christian pointed out how the Honey Badger will fill a gaping hole with his hectic and busy agenda for Red Bull’s F1 program.

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Ricciardo might be up for driving Red Bull’s 2011 winning car – the RB7 for a marketing show run at Bathurst in 2023. But, besides this show run, Daniel’s real expectation might be the odd chance of an F1 race appearance.

How does the Daniel Ricciardo – Liam Lawson situation works for Red Bull in 2023?

Officially, F2 rookie Liam Lawson is the reserve driver for Red Bull next year. Although, the New Zealand driver has also signed up for Super Formula in Japan. So, there will be several races that he may not attend. This is where Daniel Ricciardo comes into the picture.

Lawson will stay as the primary replacement option if either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez is unfit to race. Although, if the Kiwi is not available, Ricciardo might step in as their next reserve driver in line.

Red Bull’s junior stable has been grooming several young drivers in the feeder series. But, so far, none of them have been standout performers. Thus, the Honey Badger might benefit from only Liam Lawson being a reserve driver, who also has other commitments.

And eventually, if the unlikely scenario of a one-off race appearance occurs, RBR would also want an experienced race-winner in their car. Yet, we hope that even the Kiwi gets his opportunity to drive the RB19 next season alongside Ricciardo.

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So, Red Bull has good contingencies in terms of drivers for 2023. Though the key aspect would be if Ricciardo can actually make good of this opportunity. Can he find his way back to F1 with this olive branch at Red Bull?