“Has to Have an Opportunity to Come Back”: Daniel Ricciardo Could Cement Red Bull Return With Just One Requirement

Daniel Ricciardo’s time at Red Bull was special. The Australian considers the team his family and said that he has returned home after brief tenures at Renault and McLaren, during which he struggled for various reasons and was widely considered to be unhappy by his fans.

Now, at Red Bull, he will be the third driver, driving on the team’s simulator and at commercial events but not getting the chance to drive on the weekend. Whenever an opportunity to drive in practice would arise, it would go to junior driver Liam Lawson before the honey badger. Nevertheless, the driver considered this break to be a blessing and didn’t consider himself retired. 

David Coulthard, a former Red Bull driver, too, believes that Ricciardo is taking his time and needs to get back to his old formula. Speaking with BBC, the Briton said, “Daniel, not being where we knew he could be – he just didn’t look like Daniel of old, so this is about him trying to rebuild. He has a great legacy with Red Bull and he left to go off and try to make it big elsewhere. That didn’t work so he has come back to the family.”

Coulthard also addressed the threat to Ricciardo’s career. He said, “If he can get his mind back to what it was when he was having success, then Daniel has to have an opportunity to come back. If this opportunity doesn’t manifest itself, then that’s probably his Grand Prix career wrapped up.”

At Red Bull, Ricciardo has won on seven occasions. Return to Milton Keynes Outfit could rekindle the Aussie’s fire and get him back on track in form.

Daniel Ricciardo is right on Sergio Perez’s tail

Sergio Perez has been driving alongside Max Verstappen for two years now. And while the Dutchman has bagged the championship both years, the Mexican lags behind and has only managed to finish as high as third, and that too in 2022. Because of this, and Daniel Ricciardo’s addition as the third driver, David Coulthard believes Checo will be watching.

He said, “Checo (Perez) will see that there is a real substitute driver there. For Checo to look at how many victories Max had and how many he had, it’s not like he is just having to polish a few corners. This is a major rewrite, a software update.”

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It could be true that Perez gets under pressure with Ricciardo on the team and he already has chemistry despite a disastrous 2018 season. But for now, Ricciardo needs to “rebuild” and get back into a car with the same zeal with which he left Red Bull.