Daniel Ricciardo opens up on F1 return & confirms he wants Red Bull seat

Daniel Ricciardo has finally spoken out on his upcoming Formula One return and drops a big hint that’s he’s looking to take Sergio Perez’s Red Bull seat.

Earlier this week it was announced that Ricciardo would be returning to the grid for the rest of the season, replacing Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri.

Given how sudden the decision was to make the switch, the Aussie has barely had time to discuss the news, with a small statement on the team’s website and a couple of words on his Instagram story his only comment on the matter.

Now though, the 34-year-old says he is ready and raring to go, admitting his time on the sidelines since leaving McLaren have helped him fall back in love with sport.

‘Falling out of love with it took a hit on my confidence and of course if you’re competing in a sport where you’re trying to be the best at something, the best in the world at something, obviously you need full confidence and belief, Ricciardo said in an interview on F1’s YouTube channel.

‘I’ve enjoyed these six months off, and it was really good for me, but the more races I started to attend, the more sims I’ve started to do, I was getting the bug back.

‘And then jumping in the car a few days ago I thought, “Oh yeah”. It all felt very normal, very familiar. I didn’t really need to think too much about [accepting the call to return]. There was no question I was going to say yes.’

Ricciardo previously drove for AlphaTauri, Red Bull’s sister team, over a decade ago when they were known as Toro Rosso, and he’ll have his work cut out with the AT04 which is currently the slowest car on the grid.

‘It feels like I’m going full circle. I’m excited about it. It’s a challenge for sure to jump in and try to hit the ground running,’ he added.

‘But also I guess I feel like I’ve been through a lot in the last few years where I’m not really scared of anything that’s going to be thrown my way – so I actually really do like the challenge. It will be a challenge but I don’t know if I’d have it any other way.’

When it was put to him that Red Bull had put ‘the ball in his court’ in terms of getting the promotion, the eight-time race winner tried to remain coy on the matter, but all but confirmed that that is what he is aspiring to.

‘That’s why it feels a bit like back when I was working my way up through in the Red Bull family and that was it: “If you get results, then we’ll keep pushing you, we’ll keep pushing you”. So that’s really the mindset.

‘They expect results, performances. It’s hard to define. Until I get in the car, it’s hard to define what that is – is it a P8, is it a P14?

‘I don’t think there’s pressure, until the summer break there’s two races so I don’t think there’s a, “you have to do this before August”. But I also don’t expect to get off to a slow start, I want to hit the ground running and also use what I’ve learned in this time off.

‘But for Budapest, just go out and have fun, just more right foot than left and have a good time.’

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