F1: Ricciardo confirms he will not drive in F1 in 2023
Daniel Ricciardo has confirmed he won’t race in Formula 1 next year.
The Australian was sacked by McLaren in August after two years of underperformance and has been unable to find himself a competitive seat elsewhere.
Alpine appeared to be a possible soft landing spot for the eight-time race winner, and he is understood to have been in early exploratory talks with the team after being given his notice during the mid-season break.
With only uncompetitive seats at Haas and Williams available, Ricciardo admitted that he wouldn’t be racing in 2023, with his focus now moving to securing a driver closer to the front in 2024.
“I think the reality is now I won‘t be on the grid in 2023,” he said. “I think it’s now just trying to set up for 2024.
“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.
“To be honest, the Gasly news I was aware of. I knew they were they were talking for a while and I knew though they were very interested in Pierre.
“Let‘s say I was prepared for that and [it was] no surprise, so we were trying to navigate our way around that and figure out what was next.”
Ricciardo emphasized that he wasn’t finished with Formula 1 and that he wouldn’t flirt with racing in other categories if it risked disrupting his plans to return to the sport.
“Certainly the plan is still to be involved in F1,” he said. “It‘s kind of like just hitting pause for a little bit, as I see it.
“As far as my F1 career goes, the full intention is for 2024.
“Sure, it could open up opportunities to maybe do some of that stuff [in other categories], but I if I feel it‘s going to deviate away from my target, then I will still say it’s not really where I’m looking.
“As fun or cool as it sounds to compete in something else, the truth is mentally I‘m not there yet.
“I‘m still so, so engaged in this, and I think a bit of time off out of a seat will probably do me good.
“I would probably use that as opposed to trying to jump in something else and stay busy in a different category.
“I‘d say pretty convincingly say it wouldn’t happen anywhere else.”
Ricciardo is tipped to be set to join Mercedes or Red Bull as a Reserve driver bench warmer.