Ricciardo still has dreams of ‘perfect’ Red Bull reunion 

Daniel Ricciardo has made it clear he is still extremely determined to have “perfect end” to his Formula 1 career at Red Bull.

Speaking on the F1: Beyond The Grid podcast with media veteran Tom Clarkson, Ricciardo has made his intentions of returning to Red Bull clear.

The Aussie went from F1 obscurity having been dropped by McLaren to returning to the grid at AlphaTauri in 2023.

Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, Riccardo wants to return to the team where he enjoyed his most success from 2014-2018.

He did not put a specific deadline on the goal, but made it clear he has his sights set on taking Sergio Perez’ seat and resuming his Red Bull career alongside former teammate Max Verstappen.

“I am not going to put a day or date on it, but coming back into the Red Bull family, that (a Red Bull drive) is the dream,” Ricciardo said at the end of the hour-long chat.

“Ending my career with a Red Bull drive will be the perfect way to finish.

“Not that I am looking at the end, but if I get back there, I will certainly make sure I will finish there.”

Ricciardo enjoyed a well documented but unusual road back to Formula 1 after the tough time at McLaren.

The eight time Grand Prix winner reunited with Red Bull as its third driver and after a “much needed” break over the summer, spent countless hours in the sim, rebuilding his confidence.

But the day things changed was his test at Silverstone in July, when he set the timesheets alight, despite a slow start. 

So much Helmut Marko and Christian Horner had no choice but to replace the struggling Nyck de Vries with the revitalised Aussie.

Ricciardo revealed how the career-changing test day unfolded inside the helmet.

“I was excited and by July I really had my confidence back and believed I could do a great test,” he recalled.

“I knew if this test went well, things could change quickly and felt my future hangs on it, so it was good to feel that pressure again.

“In the first run I actually had a spin at turn 4, very low speed hairpin, just a little eager on the throttle!

“And again at turn 7, another low speed corner I did a tiny little loop but I was okay with it.

“The first time I went through turn 1 at high speed I thought my helmet was going to fly off! You forget how fast and intense these cars are on your body which is really cool.

“I did 8-10 laps then came in, put some new tyres on and FP2 fuel in the car and I am not going to sugarcoat it, the first timed lap was on the money.

“If you take the fuel out to quali fuel, it was a few hundredths off Max’s pole time. Crossing the line I did not expect to go that quick and thought ‘that was wild.’

“It gave me a big smile.”

Having missed so much racing in 2023 through his time as Red Bull reserve of the hand injury sustained just two races into his return, Ricciardo is desperate to make up for lost time in 2024.

He also believes AlphaTauri’s improvement from being arguably the slowest car at the start of the year to qualifying fourth in Mexico shows it is on the right trajectory.

“Now that I am back in it and missed time with the hand, I just want to get going so I am really excited for it,” Ricciardo said.

“The whole mentality of the team has changed, it is no longer just a junior team. It is definitely going to be more than that and get a lot more involved with Red Bull as much as I can within the rules.

“There is a lot more potential a team like this can show. Even in the last part of the year we were 10th in the championship and were then fighting for seventh.

“It turned around really quickly and the team realised what they could do so I am excited for what lies ahead.

“I am hungry, motivated, happy and determined.”

Main Photo by Joe Portlock/Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

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