With Most Drivers Tied Into Multi-Year Deals, Former F1 Champion Casts Doubts Over Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 Future Plans: “I Really Struggle…”

Jenson Button, the 2009 F1 world champion, thinks taking a year off from the sport and then coming back might not be the right move for Daniel Ricciardo. As the Australian moves out of McLaren at the end of this year and is still to sign a contract with a team, Ricciardo decided to take a year off. However, Button believes it might not be the wisest decision.

As per Sky Sports, Button conveyed to Any Driven Monday, “It’s a tricky one and I really struggle to see him coming back to a competitive team after having a year out.”

When asked what could be the better move instead of sitting out, the former Brawn GP driver stated, “I still think it would have been a better move [signing for a current F1 team and stay in the sport] for him.”

The Briton further asserted, “Go into a team, work hard, show people what you can do, in a car that maybe suits your car a bit more, and then people forget what happened the year before.”

With Most Drivers Tied Into Multi-Year Deals, Haas is the only team without a second driver for 2023. However, Ricciardo didn’t show any interest in signing for the Kannapolis-based team.

READ MORE: Despite a Shock 2018 Exit, McLaren Star Daniel Ricciardo Continues To Cheer for His Former Employer: “Some People Hate”

McLaren parted ways with the Honey Badger after one and a half years of struggles. Ricciardo, who arrived at the Woking-based team with high expectations, could hardly live up to them. Except for a win in Monza in 2021, where both title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton took each other out, Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t have much to show for at McLaren.

Daniel Ricciardo wants to stay in the sport despite adverse conditions

Daniel Ricciardo has stated that he wants to stay in Formula 1 next season! The Honey Badger conveyed this to Sky Sports F1 during the post-race conference. A reserve driver role is what the man from Land Down Under would prefer.

Talking about this, the 33-year-old driver shared, “I still want to be in the sport, and I want to be working with a team still with the ambition to be back on the grid in 2024.”

However, Ricciardo is still to sign a contract that would seal his stay next season.

Amid all this, Ricciardo pulled off a stunner in Mexico. The McLaren driver put up some great moves and overtakes to take home the driver of the day win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City last weekend.

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The former Red Bull driver started the race from P11 and finished in P7 despite having to serve a 10-second time penalty. Ricciardo received the penalty after colliding with Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri. All in all, the weekend was good for the Honey Badger. It’ll be interesting to see if he can finish the year on a high note.