Daniel Ricciardo is leaning towards spending next year as a reserve driver as his options to remain on the grid in 2023 dwindle.
Just three seats remain on the driver market, but paddock chatter isn’t connecting Ricciardo to any of them.
A switch back to Alpine would have been his best option, but executive-level management at the French team is thought to be unwilling to rekindle the relationship Ricciardo ended suddenly in 2020.
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The only other seats are with Haas and Williams, which are seventh and 10th in the championship respectively.
Ricciardo has previously countenanced the idea of taking a year out of Formula 1, but speaking to journalists at the Singapore Grand Prix he suggested that spending 2023 embedded in a top team was now his preferred alternative to moving further down the grid.
“They’re the two realistic options,” he admitted. “It‘s possible. These are all things I’m weighing up.
“I know, having been through the last few years, there’s something [about] — obviously Monza last year was the best-case scenario — fighting for a win.
“What fighting at the front does — when you‘ve had that taste, it’s real. That’s ultimately where I want to be.
“I guess I don‘t want to just race to race. I want to race with a true belief and understanding that I could be back on the podium.”
It would be an unusual move for an 11-season, eight-victory veteran to take up a reserve role ordinarily handed to juniors, but the hope is that it would rocket him to the top of the list of options should a full-time seat at a competitive team unexpectedly open in 2024.
Mercedes has been rumoured to be an option, with current reserves Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne both likely to leave the German marque’s fold next year.
Ricciardo accepted, however, that it was a longshot strategy with a slim chance of paying off.
“In the ideal world, [that’s the plan], but I know that if I choose to take a reserve role or not race next year, nothing‘s guaranteed,” he said. “So that comes at a risk, but that’s what we’re weighing up.
“At this stage I think especially with a top team there are no guarantees.
“Of course plan A would be to be on the grid, so nothing’s changed, but … I know the landscape probably changes as well at the end of next year with contracts and whatever.
“I‘m just still discussing — I don’t want to say remaining patient but just say remaining open.”
Ricciardo said that the two-weekend break since the Italian Grand Prix had helped to clear his mind ahead of what will be a career-defining decision, having previously earmarked the gap in races as an opportunity to plot his future.
The Australian had looked drained in Monza, but in Singapore he was visibly re-energised from taking a trip home to Perth to digest what has been a seismic two months for the 33-year-old.
He said that being away from the sport for two weeks had cemented how much he wants to remain in Formula 1 but also the power of taking a break from it.
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“After Monza we did a bit of sim and some factory stuff but then I got to get home, and it was kind of just nice being around family and switching off and spending some time at the farm and even just doing fun things — riding bikes and just being a bit of a kid again,” he said.
“That sort of stuff‘s cool, but even getting back in the paddock today, I saw Tom [Stallard], my engineer and I felt like I hadn’t seen for a while. I kind of missed him!
“A little bit of time away is powerful. It reminds you how much you miss it.
“If I’m not to be racing, then I feel like there could be a blessing in all that. It could like make me freaking stat foaming at the mouth wanting to get back.
“That’s why I‘m pumped to be on the grid again, but I’m also seeing positives if that’s not the case.
“That‘s why I’m at peace with whatever’s going to happen in 23, because I feel like everything’s going to happen for a reason. All these things will make sense.”
