Daniel Ricciardo ‘glad’ top F1 team didn’t offer him race seat for 2023

Daniel Ricciardo has admitted he was relieved a top F1 team didn’t offer him a race seat for the 2023 season.

The Australian is preparing for his first season without a race drive in more than a decade after being dropped by McLaren and returning to Red Bull as a reserve driver.

Ricciardo did have an option to stay on the grid amid interest from Haas. He also held talks with Mercedes and Ferrari over third driver role before deciding to go back to Red Bull, where he achieved seven of his eight F1 victories.

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Ricciardo was asked about his options regarding a full-time race seat for 2023 in a recent interview with F1’s Beyond The Grid podcast.

He said: “There was a couple of times where [Ferrari] was linked. But, I think coming back to a seat next year as Guenther [Steiner, Haas peam principal] said, he reached out and stuff.

“The more… days that passed and, especially as I did the triple-header to get back into the second half of the season – so three days on the bounce – it became more and more clear that it wasn’t about what phone call I was receiving. It was about me acknowledging that I just ultimately don’t want to be competing next year.

“So, in a way I am glad that, let’s say, a top team didn’t reach out, because it's one of those ones where you probably feel, ‘Oh, I’ve got to sign it’, but I think deep down I was just craving a bit of distance.”

Ricciardo believes the break from front-line driving will do him a world of good as looks to return to the grid in 2024. A race seat with Red Bull is not on the cards though, with Max Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, on a long-term contract.

“Yeah, you could call it some burnout,” added Ricciardo, “But I’m not afraid to admit that or say that, and it’s one of those ones where, you know, everyone will have an opinion and this and that, but it’s ultimately that I know what I feel, I know what I want. It was some of that.

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“And I feel very… I don’t want to say that I’m the only driver that feels this way, but I would say that I’m not the normal sportsman where I kind of just use ‘practice makes perfect’.

“The more I do sometimes, the more I’m just like getting kind of lost in it, where I kind of feel like the power of a break for me, some time off, I could come back better. I know for me that could actually be really good.”

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