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.
Watch every practice, qualifying and race of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship™ live on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
However, the Renault-backed squad had reservations about rehiring the Australian after his sudden decision to walk out on it in 2020, and the team on Saturday announced that it had hired Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri on multiyear contract.
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 emphasised 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.
Bathurst 1000: Top 10 Shootout cancelled | 01:43
“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 a frontrunning team as a reserve driver for 2023, with Mercedes linked as a possible destination.
His case for a full-time seat in 2024 might then be strengthened for having had a season to reset without stepping away from the sport completely.
However, there is no great opening up of seats on the grid with 2024, with only between four and seven drivers set to come out of contract at the end of next season.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell (Mercedes), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) are confirmed to be out of contract, while Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) will be in the second season of “multiyear” deals. AlphaTauri has only named Nyck de Vries as racing at Faenza “for the 2023” season.
Ricciardo will therefore be facing his sabbatical aware that his pause could become a permanent stop if conditions don’t prove favourable to his return.
‘I would’ve been happy to go out there’ | 00:54
The Perth native will suspend his career as the most experienced Australian Formula 1 in history, clocking up 232 starts by season’s end.
His career has brought him eight grand prix victories, putting him 39th on the all-time winners list, along with 32 podiums and three pole positions.
But even these commendable statistics should be considered paltry reward given his abilities.
At the peak of his powers Ricciardo is considered among the best in modern Formula 1. His intimidating presence and swashbuckling style on the track have delivered him a collection memorable race wins, only one of which came from pole position, and brought him significant admiration both inside the paddock and in the grandstands.
But as is the case with so many talented racers in the cut-throat and political world of Formula 1, his career has more recently been defined for him being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The West Australian burst onto the scene in 2014 with Red Bull Racing after a two-and-a-half-year apprenticeship with HRT and Toro Rosso, dispatching with reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel in their single-year intrateam battle.
His trajectory seemed sure to take him to title glory, but Red Bull Racing was unable to capture its championship-winning ways in the early turbo-hybrid years, leaving him to scratch for unlikely victories rather than contend for the crown.
Max Verstappen joining the team in 2016 was the beginning of the end of his tenure with Milton Keynes, and though Ricciardo was able to keep pace with the Dutchman until his unreliability-riddled 2018 campaign, it was clear the team was eager to build itself around the generationally talented Verstappen.
Young driver flips on his side! | 01:29
Their crash at that year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, generally attributed to Verstappen but for which the team forced both drivers to apologise, was a major factor in encouraging Ricciardo to forge his own path.
He signed a shock lucrative deal with Renault, but his first season with the team was difficult. Car development was poor, and his own adjustment to new machinery was slow. The following year, during the pandemic shutdown and without having raced the new car, he made the decisive call to switch to McLaren for 2021.
His final season with Renault was a standout and one of the best of his career, returning him two unlikely podiums in substandard machinery and stratospherically elevating his reputation, and he switched team riding a wave of confidence and goodwill.
But the Australian has never been fully comfortable with the cars produced out of Woking, and he’s looked a shadow of his former self ever since.
Of the few highlights since his fateful switch, victory in Monza, the team’s first since 2012, stands comfortably above the rest.
It also means Ricciardo holds the odd distinction of having won more races for McLaren in the last 10 years than Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne, Carlos Sainz and current teammate Lando Norris combined.
Speaking to Fox Sports earlier in the year, reigning world champion Verstappen said he hoped to see Ricciardo get the chance to continue his Formula 1 career.
“Daniel is a great driver,” he said. “Yes, he has had his difficulties at McLaren. The car just didn’t really suit his driving style.
“I hope he can continue because I think he still has a lot left in him to perform.
“I really hope that he will get a seat somewhere in F1 so he can show his talent again.
“I think to let him go will be a shame.”
